The Sword: Reforged
by Sage of Eyes
Summary: A few days makes the biggest of differences. Perseus Jackson wakes up without memory. Only armed with a sword of unimaginable power, he needs to make sense of a world filled with monsters gods and a fair share of other oddities. Read and Review, Pairings most likely: PercyXMulti and some Canon Pairings.
1. Chapter 1

The Sword: Reforged.

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Disclaimer: I do not own the PJATO or HoO series, nor do I make currency from this pursuit

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Prologue: Going Down Fighting?

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I would be lying if I said that we weren't totally screwed. If I could say what the closest approximation to our situation, I would probably say that of a enchilada near a hungry Grover.

Thalia was biting her nails, probably scared about the great prophecy Chiron had told us about, before we went on the quest. The details were hazy, but it concerned a big decision that she was going to make once she turned sixteen.

I looked at the watch Tyson gave me, and I surmised that was probably going to be in around five minutes or so. I was more than a little freaked out that the world's fate was supposedly going to be in the hands of a girl I barely knew in a few minutes. To be quite honest, I emphasized a fair bit with the Olympians now, the fact that everyone's lives were going to be on the line in five minutes shook me up quite a bit.

We continued to walk, the ticks of my watch seemingly coming faster and faster…

A full minute before the supposed decision, the fog around the bay of mount Tampa cleared and my heart sank.

"The Princess Andromeda," I nearly shouted out loud, drawing the attention of both my companions. Zoe's eyes immediately honed onto the ship, glittering dangerously, her hand twitched for an arrow. I knew her well enough that I was sure that she was stopping the reflex to notch an arrow for a monster that she had seen. Thalia's grip on her spear tightened, and if Celestial Bronze could've broken been broken by a mortal, I was sure it would snapped in half.

Then I remembered the dream I had before the quest. Me and Thalia approaching a coffin inside the Andromeda, and Thalia screaming as light from the coffin engulfed her. The coffin in the heart of the ship, had Kronos inside, his essence ready to reform into his real form and wreak havoc

"I need to get in there." I stated and locked my gaze with Thalia, a knot of pressure formed in my gut. The atmosphere seemed to change and I felt my heart skip a beat. Thalia froze as I confronted her, "I'll sink it with every monster inside, that should even the odds a bit." And possibly kill Kronos inside, I added mentally.

"It is not wise." Zoe interrupted locking her eyes with a stern glare, one hand went to hip almost immediately, as if to start a lecture on. "The odds are against us already, losing another member of our group before the confrontation between our enemies and ourselves is not for the bes-"

I couldn't explain it, but I felt, deep in my gut that if I wanted to see Olympus still standing for another day, I need to sink that ship.

"The odds will be even worse if I don't" I reminded her, "There are hundreds of monsters in that ship, if they all come out we'll be better of handing ourselves on a silver platter." I turned to Thalia, her eyes were still wide. "Please, Thalia, let me do this."

"We can't give you up." She stated weakly, her eyes kept glancing at her own watch. "We'll be too weak."

I couldn't let her let this chance pass, I knew that fact very well. I didn't know why, but I had to destroy that entire ship.

I took off the cap I had clipped to my jeans, the watch on my wrist, and the pen in my pocket. I propped them into Thalia's hands.

"Annabeth knows a good bit about sword fighting, and she'll do even better with her cap on." I said as simply as I could. Without my weapons, I felt as if I standing naked in the world, a part of me was glad Annabeth would be armed later though.

"The watch is useless." Zoe said softly, I didn't even know she could sound so… meek. "It had been broken by the Manticore.

"Tyson will know how to fix it." I stated dully, Zoe's eyes averted mine.

I turned as Thalia's mouth opened and closed, for the first time in my life I realized that I sounded like a completely different person. As I neared the edge of the cliff the waters invited me below, promising strength and safety as it always did.

I turned one last time towards my two companions, meeting their eyes and I felt a ball of dread form in my stomach.

"Well…" I scratched the back of my head. "I guess I'll see you guys later."

Zoe seemed to stand up straighter than she already did, and Thalia's shoulder's slumped down farther in defeat.

"Likewise, Perseus Jackson." Zoe demurred with a gracious nod, and a slow, sad smile forming on her face. I had to blink at the stunning sight for a moment, Aphrodite had nothing on her when Zoe smiled, she just looked so… natural. "I will see you soon."

I wanted to tell her that she probably wouldn't, since I wasn't probably getting to Elysium anytime soon given how my uncle disliked me so much.

"You probably don't want to be near an icky guy like me anytime soon after this." I gave my own, small, smile in return.

"And what, pray tell, should I do instead of meeting with you after this fight." She retorted, crossing her arms over her silver jacket.

I couldn't think of anything to say back, so my ADHD decided to do the work for me.

"Smile more." The words left my mouth just as I kicked off the ledge. "and remember me."

I heard someone scream my name, but by the time I registered her voice I was already in the water.

I placed aside my worries, all the thoughts of the death was about to come, and stored them in the back of my head and began my swim towards the Andromeda. I willed the currents to aid me, and they did, I was a torpedo in the water.

I was going off to beat up my grandpa.

…

"He's not coming back." Thalia muttered underneath her breath, I watched as the ripple in the waves steadily gained speed and trailed towards the ship. His words and smile making my chest grip uncomfortably, despite the fact I had rebuffed hundreds of advances over the course of my immortality. "We need to keep moving…" Thalia trailed off, moving up the path as if only driven by sheer will.

The cynical side of me stated that I would probably be the same if I had just sent off a Huntress to their death. I was just as uncomfortable as she was about the entire situation, and the odds of my death and Thalia's were more than enough to make me hazy about my encounter with my father, my relatives, and Ladon.

My thoughts, however, kept going back to Perseus Jackson and the faded streak of water heading towards the boat that contained hundreds of monsters. I felt even more dread at his stupidity than I did about my current slim chances of living. I could not place the feeling that the dread surged from, but it was making me assuredly uncomfortable.

I was so distracted I nearly bumped into Thalia when she immediately stopped and pulled out the baseball hat from her jeans.

"Put this on." The girl before me ordered, and I immediately complied. I saw my arm vanish from my vision the moment it entered. "Do you think this'll work against that dragon guarding the apples?"

I examined the spot where my body used to be, before taking a deep breath and taking off the hat.

"Ladon will be able to detect us even with this level of stealth," I stated as I handed it back to her, she didn't meet my eyes as she clipped it around her jeans once more. "We smell to much of power, and all the enemies he has faces over the years has been of our kind."

Thalia didn't answer, just giving a sigh and turning her spear into a Mace canister and her Aegis back into a the spiked bracelet she preferred.

"Put your arms around my waist." She ordered, her face blushing as I raised an eyebrow.

"You are able to fly?" I inquired as I kept my distance from her, crossing my arms over my chest once more. "Would that not have been prudent to use earlier?"

"Shut up." She stated prudently, blush still on her face. Her next words were soft. "I'm afraid of heights…"

I blinked.

"Does anyone know?" I asked the Daughter of the Sky God, wrapping an arm around her waist, before using the other around her stomach.

The heiress of Lighting said nothing, her eyes simply trailing towards the ship and I understood.

I had the strangest feeling that I wasn't the only person currently dreading the fate of Perseus, and, for another strange reason I could not place, that feeling made me distinctly uncomfortable. I surmised that it must have been because of the sudden altitude that Zeus' daughter suddenly gained and shot us over Ladon's plain.

Despite the fact that the 'flight' was more of a rather large jump, the short-term flyer was already slightly shaking due to her phobia.

"It's for the best." I assured the shivering girl, patting her gently on the back and soothing down her breaths. "Ladon's poison can kill the most powerful of demigod's with ease." I explained. "Very few heroes have managed to get past the guardian of the golden apples."

Her breathing soon stabilized, and we made our way to the summit of Mount Orthys the old stronghold of the Titans. I immediately heard the booming voice of my father, and the chill of my spine as I remembered the prophecy's words mere days ago. 'One shall die by parent's hand…'

Thalia's elbow made contact with my stomach, I met her gaze and she jerked her neck towards the direction behind my father.

A girl was shackled with chains, but looked reasonably healthy. Her grey arms darted to and fro, analyzing everything she saw, as any child of Athena would in circumstances where they were stressed and pressured. She looked dirty, and her hair was streaked with gray from taking the burden of the sky from my father.

The man with a scar on his face was present, as was my father. To even gain the slightest chance of freeing my mistress from the burden of the sky, I had no doubt we would need to free the girl first.

"The invisibility cap." I whispered to my companion, her hand was already fiddling with Anaksulamos, ready to give it to the blonde girl Perseus had talked so much about. I was surprised at the amount of trepidation I felt at the thought of the sword in her hands, I had become accustomed to it being wielded by Perseus for so long… "I can shoot the chains from here, and you can give the girl her weapons. She will be able to handle the boy with ease if she cannot be seen."

"… I don't think I'll be able to take on Atlas." Thalia admitted quietly. "He's held up the world…"

"You will not face her alone." I stated, readying the bow and quiver from their forms as apparel and preparing myself for the battle ahead. "I will take the burden of the sky and release Lady Artemis from her burdens, you and her will be more than sufficient to drive him back to where he is supposed to be."

The daughter of Zeus pursed her lips together, as if to question my plan.

Then the world shuddered, and my eyes turned to the ocean to the east.

My heart dropped.

The coast was being battered by the ocean, the dock that rested on the ocean was cracking away from its connection to land. I could feel the trembling of the earth beneath my feet, the all-encompassing rage of Poseidon making itself known to the world.

And I knew very well what an earthquake meant in the world of mythology, I lived in a time from when they were very common. I had taken for granted the relative happiness of Poseidon the past centuries, but now his rage was all too apparent.

A tidal wave was rushing in from the horizon, and I felt a chill go up my spine at the magnitude of it.

I stood atop a mountain, yet I knew that the water shall crash upon my legs.

Yet for all the danger that was about to come, my heart dropped not because of the wrath that faced me. Rather, it dropped as I realized that Poseidon could only be provoked to such matters, uncaring for his siblings whims, should one thing occur.

Percy you gods damned idiot.

…you've left me…

…

Quite frankly, attacking a ship filled to the brim with monsters wasn't the best ideas I've ever had. For a god, it would've been sport but I was most certainly not a god.

The sea could only do so much, the power I received from it was more than enough to push the monsters into the ship and into tight corridors where numbers meant nothing.

But the tricky part came from the fact that they had bows and arrows, and I didn't have anything.

Five? Seven? I could feel points in my body that refused to heal even when touched by water, they radiated heat as if Greek Fire burned in each point. The bows that the snake-women used were powerful enough to travel through the water I kept in front of me, and they were fast enough to run before I managed to fill up the room with enough water to drown them.

I couldn't attack them head on, and the only weapon I managed to get was a fire axe they had surprisingly left within the emergency box. As good and sturdy as it was, I wasn't trained in axes and it was most certainly not made out of Celestial Bronze. Steel could only do so much, at best it managed to leave a small wound and at worst it would bounce off.

If I wasn't in the ocean, I knew that I would most certainly be already dead. I wouldn't be even able to walk, the number of times I've reattached a limb was in the dozens already, it was only because of the ocean that I was even managing the feat.

A snake-woman popped out of the vents, and I managed to catch the arrow she launched, only to be hit in the small of my back. The pain was agonizing, and I managed to wrench it out only a moment after.

Then I fell flat on my face…

I couldn't feel my legs, the shock was so much that the wall of water that surrounded me wavered. The amount of pain was excruciating, I could hardly breathe.

Water rushed into the wound immediately, and I felt the pinpricks of feeling return to my legs, though the pain remained apparent.

I threw the axe with as much force as I could muster, the water adding to the flying metal with its own velocity. The weapon buried itself into the dracaena's face with surprising force and the monster turned to dust within a second.

An arrow grazed my cheek when I stood stunned, and I immediately brought the axe back to throw it again.

The axe broke against the snake woman's scales, but the water went right through her.

I didn't waste time, I kept miming throwing an axe propelled with water in every direction I thought there was a monster. The odds were suddenly even again, and I wasn't about to waste time gawking.

I had a titan to kill, after all I couldn't really let anything stop me.

I started to make my way into the ship in earnest, finally making waves against the gigantic number of monsters that lay therein.

I reached the room where I saw the coffin in my dreams, the captain's quarter's in the heart of the ship.

That was about the time a spear drove me right into a wall, through my chest.

"Careful, Son of Poseidon." A gigantic snake woman, with a golden headdress dropped from the ceiling. The amount of gold she wore, made her seem rather regal. "That spear has taken quite the number of limbs when idiotic god spawn try to extricate themselves from it."

I shot a stream of water at her, and she moved in a blur as she evaded it and buried her hand into my stomach.

I felt my stomach turn, literally and figuratively, as her pronged tongue licked blood off my cheek.

"You know what I love the most about the sons of the sea?" She purred (slithered?) "They're an endless all you can eat buffet-"

She stopped talking because I crushed her head with enough water pressure to mangle a tank. I wished I didn't mainly because I felt some brain hit me before she turned into monster dust.

The spear turned into a switch blade and fell to the floor, spoils of war probably. Just like that Nemean Jacket that I wished I still had around five minutes ago.

I hit the floor on my knees, clutching at the gaping wound on my stomach with my uninjured arm. My left arm was basically hanging on a threat now, and it refused to heal.

But there it was, my goal, right in front of.

I remembered what that redheaded girl told me in the dam.

"You are the hero Perseus Jackson." I muttered my own name underneath my breath, as I inched my way to the coffin. I took the switch blade and returned it to its form of a spear, it felt hot in my hands like the arrows I took out of my body so many times. "Hero's soul shall be reaped." I muttered underneath my breath.

But my arm couldn't move anymore, I could barely crawl my way over to the casket.

I tried to get power from the ocean once more, but I was surprised to hear my father's voice suddenly.

"Percy." His tone was cold and terrifying, I couldn't see the voice I heard to my father's face. It didn't seem correct. "You must stop using your powers at once, your mortal body cannot take any more."

"I can't, father." I stated out loud, I knew he heard me, I was technically in the ocean after all. "Kronos is right in front of me, I can end this before it can even begin."

"I will not kill you by pouring more power into you."

"No one has a choice here, father." I said, brining myself up to my knees with my only remaining arm.

"I do not care for any prophecies, I want you to live another day-"

"This isn't about prophecies." I forced myself up from my knees, bringing up the spear in my right hand. "This is about everyone who'll stay alive if Kronos dies tonight." I tried to bring up the spear, but I was far too weak to carry it. "Mom, Annabeth, Chiron, Thalia, Grover, Zoe and everyone at camp. I want them to stay safe." I struggled with the spear. "If my life buys that..."

I felt power rush through me and I whispered thanks to my father, even as I felt his anger start to force the water outside higher and higher.

I plunged the spear towards the casket, using al the water I could manage to press it forward against the coffin that held the essence of the Titan of time.

The world exploded into the brightest of lights and I knew no more.

…

The ship descended and my father cried out in anger along with the scarred boy by his side. Thalia struck them both with lighting and I released the child of Athena from her shackles. Her eyes were misted with tears, but I only saw them for a moment before she took the sword and the hat of invisibility.

I paid no attention to the sounds of lighting above, I sprinted as fast as I could to my mistress and the burden that she held up.

She tried to speak against my actions, as I began to free her from her shackles and prepare for the weight of the sky, but I shook my head.

"We need you to fight against my father, my lady." I picked up the weight of the sky and she readily slipped out of the weight. My immortality made sure that I stayed in the best physical shape, but the weight of the sky was no fool's game. It felt as if two forces were trying to pulverize me, but didn't dare stop carrying the weight in fear for those that lived near the mountain.

I tried to wonder who would have been the one to save my lady from the weight of the sky, but I already knew that Percy would have done so without hesitation.

I drew strength from that, and through my hazy vision I saw my mistress fight as a god.

She changed her forms, from one viscous animal to another, as she ducked and weaved underneath my father's strikes. She radiated cunning and deadliness, even with how depleted her powers were due to holding this weight for so long.

She matched my father, undoubtedly, and the multitude of cuts soundly appearing throughout my father's body made it known that my thoughts upon the child of Athena had be true. The two of them were driving her back, as I felt as though I was being crushed by all the weight imaginable.

Lift with your back, he would've said at this moment, just before trying to lift it with me at the same time. He would've given a stupid laugh and scratched the back of his head, so different from Hercules. Percy would've struggled under the weight, as all did, but I could not imagine him being the same as Hercules…

He would've been different, he would've went and asked us if we were alright. I could imagine him, soaked with sweat and parts of his hair gray, running towards us and asking if we were all right.

My lady yelled my name and I let go of the weight of the sky, slipping myself away. My father screamed as the great weight of the sky nearly crushed him underneath its weigh.

The blonde girl removed her hat a mere few feet away, returning to the visible spectrum of light. I followed her teary gaze, towards the ship slowly being taken by the ocean and I lowered my own head in accordance.

I felt a body land next to me, and a yell of pain.

Thalia's boot was squared directly between the scarred, young man's shoulder blades, keeping him down.

I notched an arrow right at his eye all the same.

My eyes met my lady's.

"We must make our way to the Winter council immediately," I stated with as little emotion as I could hope to gather without breaking. The accumulation of emotional and physical stress was slowly pushing me against my breaking point. "The gods demanded an explanation of this quest as soon as possible."

My lady gave me an incomprehensible look, her muddied appearance deeply contrasting against her child-like appearance and the fact that she was a god. Her eyes scanned us with the perspective of a hunter, seeing our postures and the emotions hidden beneath our skin.

She didn't comment on the disparate lack of persons in the party, and for that I was extremely grateful.

My mistress whistled for her mount and we boarded it, I watched the ocean depart with a slowly growing hole within my heart.

…

"He lives Poseidon." A young woman, but gray in hair stated as she held aloft a string. "But the prophecy must be fulfilled"

"I will not end the life of the first of my son's to accept the ocean to such an extent." I answered bitterly, running over my son's face. Dozens of scars littered his body, and the two most massive on his shoulder and abdomen seemed to be eternally red. "The sea itself refuses to let him die."

"Then another means must be utilized." Another young woman stated, a pair of knitting needles tucked into her apron, equally white hair straddled in a bun. Her grey eyes went over the form of my son that made me want to want to reach for my trident.

The gaze of the third gate met my eyes, her raven hair, green eyes, and white skin so different from the others. The shears that ended all life was tucked into the pocket of her business suit.

"He must be reborn." The third stated. "Memories of his past erased, and left where they be."

"The scars on his body refuse to fade." I pointed out, the relief of the thought of my son's continued life overwhelming.

"All demigods have scars." The first mused as she tucked a ball of yarn into a pocket of her dress. "Especially those raised by Lupa herself."

"Perseus is-"

"In between that of Roman and Greek." The second stated quietly, a small smile climbing over her features. "Sally Jackson loved both sides of you equally, Poseidon."

"A new life, then." The third stated with an air of finality, she walked over to my son's body and I had to restrain myself with the greatest effort as she reached out with her pale hand. The same hand that ended countless numbers lives, she saw my reaction and leveled a glare that made me still. "Amongst backstabbers and connivers my hero shall live, his thread untouched by me." She bent down and pressed her lips against his head. "As it should always be."

The first two scoffed and made their way away from my city.

"Atropos?" I addressed the final one of the fates, she ran her fingers through my son's hair with a wistful look in her eye. I had not even seen her move to his side. "Is there something I need to know about my son?"

She stayed silent her hands running over the scars on my sons body. The marble that I laid Perseus upon was of a lesser shade of white than her own skin, against Perseus's tan the differences was staggering to behold.

"He is…" She paused, not taking her eyes from my son. "A very special man."

I felt slight fury raise within my chest, but I pushed it down, I needed my questions answered.

"Did you decide to not cut his string?" I managed to ask, I still could not believe my son was alive after all the power that went through him.

She was silent for a moment, her hands stopping over the massive scar on her chest. I already destroyed the weapon that had done the deed, even if it had also dissipated my father into the atmosphere, it still harmed my son.

"His soul is different from the rest…" She paused once more, and I decided she probably did not speak nearly as much as her teenage form told. "Brighter, more purposeful…" She tilted her head slightly I saw the faintest of blushes upon her pale cheek. "Beautiful…"

I coughed to the side, decidedly not liking the odd feeling of pride that was welling up in my stomach.

"His destiny is free…" She seemingly finished turning away from my son, even as her fingers lingered over his body. "He can start his new life anew… and search for happiness that will never be enough for the sacrifices he has made."

"Arm him as best as you can." She finished quietly. "The prophecy is still true in the side of Rome, and he will be at the forefront of the fight, as is his destiny in life."

She disappeared into the shadows, leaving me with the body of my son.

I eyed the dozens of scars on his body, the dozens of arrow markings, the holes which spears left, the numerous junctions at his joints where scars remained.

But he was alive, and I couldn't help but feel pride well up within me at what he had done. Mortal no longer, I had no doubt, I could feel the ocean within his veins as if he was a Cyclops himself. I had no doubt he had the same strength in his body, and the resilience my other sons shared.

I could dream, that maybe, he may be immortal as well.

Atropos' words imprinted themselves firmly upon my brain, I set out to the forges and have a blade built for him and safeguard him.

Tyson would be most surely pleased.

…

Prologue end.


	2. Chapter 2

The Sword: Reforged

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Disclaimer: I do not earn any form of currency for this work .

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Chapter 1: Angry Statues Are Angry

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To be perfectly frank, I wasn't the kind of person to think things through and I was pretty sure that I was the same before I lost all my memories. For example, I was fairly sure that stealing an SUV wasn't the best course of action when searching for a mythical camp in the middle of California, especially when it was very low on gas.

I didn't even question the fact I was somehow able to hotwire a car for some odd reason, or the fact I knew how to get away from cops with ease, though I was pretty worried at the thought that I may or may not be some sort of fifteen-year-old-super-criminal.

Of course, I was pretty sure a super-criminal wouldn't make a mistake as silly as stealing an SUV with little to no gas in the tank. I would probably have done better if I got a sedan with good gas mileage, but chances were that the sedan wouldn't have had a sheaf of twenty dollar bills tucked underneath a compartment under the dashboard.

The fact I knew where to look for money just reinforced the fact that I must've been some sort of criminal during the times I couldn't remember, adding the amount of scars on my body that I see whenever I look in a mirror, I wasn't too keen on remembering my previous existence or going back to it.

Another spear went through the windshield, and I honked my horn to get the idiots that decided to stand still off the sidewalk. According to Lupa, mortals didn't see what I saw, so they weren't completely aware that a massive snake woman had been throwing spears at me. They probably saw something like a gunwoman with a silenced gun shooting at an SUV with a scary-faced teenager inside

The hood of the SUV made contact with the snake woman, and she turned into specks of gold that exploded everywhere. Then, my car hit the brick wall behind her and the airbags deployed into my face and slamming me against the very plush leather seats of the car I'd barely been driving for thirty minutes.

Never going to that again, I'll stick to cutting those things in half any day.

Then I heard what people were screaming outside.

"Holy shit that policewoman just exploded!"

"Someone call the police!"

"Grab the person inside, before he runs!"

Well shit.

I grabbed my duffle bag and kicked out the door of the driver's seat with as much force as I could muster. As always when I was careless enough to use as much force as I possibly could, the thing I hit exploded in the direction I kicked. Which meant a couple mortals got blindsided by an SUV door by complete accident.

"Holy shit he's got some sort of explosive charges!"

"He's psychic!"

Fuck, this is why I shouldn't have stolen the SUV, the sedan would've just trapped the snake lady, not kill her and the civies would probably rush to her aid and make it so I can escape with my loot.

… gods I really don't want to know what I've done in my previous life, its just so damn depressing to think about.

The mortals parted between me like bodies of water tended to do when I didn't want to get wet. A few tried to grab me, but I taught them their lessons by twisting their wrists a bit. Judging from the fact I wasn't holding any extra hands, I did fairly well in just dislocating their wrists, with my strength it was completely possibly for me to just rip someone's entire arm off by accident.

I wondered if any of the other Roman Demigods could do the same thing, but I was sure that if they were able to fight the monsters I was fighting and managed to make a giant city they must be quit the bad-asses themselves. I ran into an alley way and dropped into a sewer system, following the water going downstream, after I turned on the flashlight I clipped onto the . According to Lupa, the entire city was surrounded by a River, so it didn't take a genius to figure that the sewage would lead to the river.

That or this city in the middle of California would actually pay for a sewage treatment plant, and I was just walking into a giant septic tank. Unless the city managed to change from the map, I picked up though there was very little chance that the horrible sewage plant from my dreams were truly existent.

Then I heard slithering and I froze.

My body acted before I did, dropping into a crouch and reaching for something inside my empty pocket. I was more than used to the habit that I always wore my real weapon against the small of my back, along with the harness that it came with.

I pulled the un-extended police stun rod out of its holder and batted away the arrows sent in my direction, using the water in the sewer to surge in the general direction of the shooters. A sudden increase in light, due to the reflective nature of monster dust, allowed me to see a the spear poised to impale me from behind and I snapped the baton open.

The police baton transformed into a blade just as tall as I was, and considering the fact I grew a solid foot the last three months, I was barely an inch taller than it at six-foot-one. The blade smelled like the ocean, but exuded heat as though it was in a furnace. The jagged black surface, and the thin red lines that lit up the tunnels reminded me of lava and the ocean of the same time.

Possibly because of my heritage, I knew very well that this sword was made from steel gathered from an undersea volcano and enchanted to stay as hot as when it was forged.

So even when I swung it out of position, and with only one hand, it cleaved through the shield of the snake-woman through the monster itself like butter. The size of the sword would have made it impossible to use in a cramped corridor, such as the sewers, but any obstacle tended to melt before the sword.

I placed my left hand on the well-fitted handle and held the sword as Lupa taught me. The singular edge of the blade lit up and began to drip onto the floor. I felt a tug in my stomach while I used the sword, the sword accessing my body's energy to fuel and renew itself. The tunnel was lit up as if there were lights everywhere, and the snake woman hesitated at the sight of my sword.

Bad choice really.

I held it above my head, the lava droplets just giving me a warm sensation wherever they hit like massage, and swung it down with all my might.

I really didn't do the trick often, since it tended to burn everything in its path and I wasn't all too keen on burning down a house or killing some poor mortal, but it tended to kill everything that it hit and I wasn't all too excited about being ambushed later.

"Aestus Estus!" I declared, as Lupa had told me names held power and since declaring my sword's name most certainly upped the drain I felt on using it, I believed it was true. I swung the blade down and before the tip of the sword was completely horizontal, the edge burst forth in a stream of magma, though quickly replacing itself fast enough so that the tip buried itself no problem into the cement.

Not that I would need it anymore.

The line of magma that sped through was like a giant playing card in shape, wide at the side but thin at an angle. The stream almost seemed as if it was cutting the round tunnel perfectly symmetrical, as it traveled down with furious speed.

Bursts of golden dust exploded all around it as it passed by, there weren't many things in the world that could manage to live when barely two feet away from magma after all, though I was sure that I was one of them.

I let of the blade with my left hand and the edge of lava disappeared along with the pull on my gut. I placed my hand on the jagged back of the blade that held no edge, and pushed my hands together, and lo the massive sword was back into its form as a police baton that could be hidden underneath a shirt and was undetectable by metal detectors.

I felt like the sword was cheating for some reason but considering the fact that these snake women were numerous and really, really wanted to kill me, I made due with the fact that my weapon was basically a cheat that only I could use.

I should probably hide it if I ever got to Camp Jupiter, Lupa said that most of the kids were pretty power hungry and I was sure that having a friend because of his god-mode-cheat-sword would become a pretty big deal if everyone found out.

And gods know what the heck would happen if someone else tries to use it and accidently kills themselves, I should probably just stick to my fists once I get there. Though that particular fact wasn't all too nice since I could dent metal with my fists, and kicking things tended to make them fly. If they weren't nearly as tough as I hoped they were, there was going to be a lot of problems when I got there, especially if what Lupa said about coliseum fights were true and I was going to have to fight my way into a Legion,

Maybe I could just throw my fights? It wasn't like I wanted to be well known or anything, probably because of my past as a super-criminal and the only one I could agree with. I wanted to make friends and all, but the thought of being in the spotlight made me very, very queasy. Making friends would probably be only hard if I fought like a wimp in the eyes of everyone, but if someone didn't want to be friends of me because I looked weak, I might as well not be friends with them in the first place.

It sounded fair enough, and I wasn't all to keen on spending a lot of time looking for trouble anyways.

Maybe they have a shipyard where I could make some ships? I was so giddy at the thought of making a boat I almost tripped over something as I walked through the sewers.

It was a spear, almost entirely black, and it felt as though poison ran through it. It was right next to some sort of crown made out of gold and jewels.

Of course my criminal instincts immediately told me to grab them and stuff them down my bag, and I couldn't find anything to say against it. I had to break the crown in half to fit it in, and a jewel fell out that I had to stuff into my pocket.

The spear seemed to resonate with me though as if I had held it before…

Naaahhhhh….

I probably handled spears in my past life, and this was just another one of those things that felt similar. It's been around nine months since I woke up at Wolf House, and other than some odd feelings, I never really felt incomplete or anything. I was me, Percy no last name, and I now had a nifty switchblade that turned into a poisoned spear, along with my sword of awesome.

Maybe I could just beat half of the Legion's best? Would that make me look average or something? I could deal with average.

…

"Good morning, Sally." I greeted the mortal I had been staying with for the past few months with a cup of coffee, from which she took a grateful sip. "Almost done with that chapter?" I inquired as she sat herself onto the breakfast table.

"I'm in a bit of a block, actually." Sally admitted with a sigh, slowly consuming the meal I had already started partaking in myself. Whilst she had used to eat mostly bacon and over-sugared pancakes, I had slowly been converting her to the more healthy options that Demeter's daughters have foisted upon the entire camp so long ago. "As good as the notes you gave me are, it's still a difficult concept to portray the middle ages so accurately without much information to back it."

I pondered on whether to stay silent, or attempt to assuage the woman who had been housing me for the past few months, but the choice to help were overridden by my fears of being caught in another of Sally Jackson's long speeches about the structural integrity of both her book and her writing style. I had driven her towards a good habit to help her get over the loss of her son, but if I had known that such actions would lead to the current arrangement I would have gladly stapled my lips closed.

As such, the breakfast went in silence until the last whole grain bagel was finished, and Sally began to ponder while sipping her third cup of coffee in bliss.

While I didn't consume the healthy beverage myself, I had lived through the Enlightenment in Europe and all the gods were as addicted to the substance as most of the mortals were. Given the access to beans, and my knowledge of how to make it the most efficiently, I could possibly attempt to start my own shop.

I was washing the plates when Sally decided to pursue some inquiries, though no of the nature I had expected.

"Do you miss them?" The writer inquired as she handed me her mug, I idly went about my habit of utilizing the mug to water the small garden on the windowsill in front of me. My proficiency in gardening due to my aspect as a nature spirit was unmatched by mortals, all I required was water and seeds.

"I do not know who you speak about." I admitted, though I most certainly had an idea on who she was asking about. The topic had been left untouched for months, the first time having been my explanations of the disaster that was the expedition that I had held. Needless to say, my pursuit of merely satisfying my curiosity on how the man I fell for lived elongated to my stay with his distraught mother for the last few months.

"You told me…" Sally trailed off and gestured towards the bracelet on my arm. The mystical device's bow no longer functioned, but Lady Artemis had allowed me to still summon the Moonlight arrows of which we were famed. Utilizing a modern compound bow had been odd for a few weeks, but I was far more able with the innovation of mortals than I had been with my old bow. I was still able to carry it around, as it folded, and due to the lack of skill needed to utilize it effectively, the system of pulleys and wires only served to add to my skills. "That you left some sort of group that you've been with for a few centuries, Zoe."

The woman with true-sight leveled a look at me that made me distinctly uncomfortable.

"Talk to me, Zoe," Sally seemed to beg, though her stoic demeanor radiated a sort of omnipotence. I almost confused her for Lady Artemis while she was angered, not the best comparison simply because the image fit so well my will started to fold like tissue paper. "I've been thinking about all this, and I've been feeling guilty since I don't even know what you're getting out of this…" The mother of Percy Jackson trailed off.

I opened my mouth, but words refused to come out as I tried to lie. An intense feeling of dread washed over me when her eyes narrowed so closely like my old Captain. I couldn't hope to lie, yet at the same moment I couldn't tell her the entire truth.

As good as a person Sally was, I doubted the fact that she would understand that I had come to her home with intent to investigate Percy's life and using the Mist to make her completely forget about the occurrence. Of course, everyone failed to mention the fact that she had true sight, and therefore wasn't affected by the mist the slightest.

I had not been embarrassed as thoroughly in my life, and I saw no avenue of escape from the verbal onslaught the woman had unleashed upon me when I mentioned her son had died.

So then, I took the easiest way out of the proverbial embarrassment train, by simply diving in front of the embarrassment car. At the very least, I may still respect myself after I admit something that wouldn't make me seem like a deranged, idiot.

"I was a Hunter Of Lady Artemis." I explained and the writer nodded for me to continue. "After the… incident that led to the deaths of most of my group, I did not feel I was competent enough to lead another." I wrung my hands, hoping that visual tells will give off my discomfort . "I resigned from my post and-"

"Went to visit the mother of the boy you fell for."

"Yes exactly." I nodded and opened my mouth to speak after her apt, and true, statement-

Sally's smirk widened as I felt blood rush from my face and rush up in a blush that could probably have been seen from miles if I had been standing outside.

"Sally!" I cried out and buried my face in my hands, they most assuredly felt much warmer than they were supposed to be. My housemate gave a chuckle as she walked over and tussled my free, and shorter hair. Life in the city didn't allow the braid I had been used to lovingly make every day, Sally utilized her skills honed over the years of thrifty living to cut it to shoulder length. I usually kept it in a high ponytail when outside of the house, but I kept it free within the confines of my new home.

"Sorry, kiddo." She gave a small chuckle as I shook off her hand. "I went ahead and did research on Artemis, and she doesn't seem to be the type to let someone like you go just because of a failed mission." The writer-in-training lifted up my chin to meet her eyes. "But if a maiden is love-struck and wants to seek her hearts desires…"

"She allows them to leave in peace, with a simple warning against their actions." I finished for her, the words tasted bitter in my mouth. "Silently Awaiting for the day that they ask to die by at her hands for the disgrace they have suffered at the hands of men."

"…Did she tell you all that?" Sally whispered, "After spending so much time with her, being there since the beginning?"

I didn't ask how she must have known I had been with Artemis since the very beginning, maybe because of some obscure text she might have found, there were quite a few mentioning me after Hercules…

"She didn't need to." I stated carefully. "And we left on fair terms." I gestured towards my bracelet, "I'm the first to leave the hunt, still able to use the arrows of which we are famed."

"Oh!" Sally's gaze leveled onto the bracelet. "You don't use the arrows I bought for you?"

"The arrows I am still able to access are able to kill monsters and wound gods." I explained in a placating manner, though I was worried as to why she immediately turned to the fact I wasn't using the Carbon Fiber arrows she supplied instead of the tragedy I was describing, I didn't say it out loud. "They are also blessed by Lady Artemis' to fly true, it is very difficult to miss with them, especially with the bow I had bought."

Sally seemed to pout for a moment, decidedly making me uncomfortable. The arrows were certainly not cheap, and I could hardly fault her for thinking mortal weapons would work when I made sure to destroy every monster I could see from the top of the water tower on the building and brought up the bundle of arrows with me whenever I went back.

I was pleased to find that the arrows were able to pierce glass though, Lady Artemis' arrows didn't do much against mortal products, but my centuries of skill would make taking a foolish hijacker a piece of cake even in a moving vehicle.

"Well, I guess I'll be going now." Sally declared suddenly, breaking me out of my reverie of my arrow comparisons. I only realized that she was already in her uniform and I was about to fetch my own when she held up her hand. "I've told my boss that you're leaving for a while." She took out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to me.

_Luke Castellan Has Escaped, We Are Gathering A Team To Venture Into The Labyrinth. Your Help would be appreciated- #MyOtherCarIsAlsoACentaur_

"Chiron has an e-mail address?" I inquired out loud from shock, and the woman I had been living with for six months gave a chuckle as she picked out a bag from a locked cabinet atop the fridge.

"I was surprised to find out too." My housemate stated, placing a small duffel bag onto the table, her eyes got wistful as she traced the initials on the side.

P.J.

"I had the bag made when they went to pick up Nico and his sister." Sally explained, "I always fussed over him when he packed, I never could manage myself when I knew he was going to be in danger." She sniffed lightly and dabbed at her cheek with the back of her hand, thankfully she never put on make-up and therefore didn't have to worry for it to run. "I packed all his survival things in here and a few more things that I thought were important to a person running all over America when I heard he was killed. I wanted to send it to camp… then you came along."

She gestured towards the proverbial treasure bag.

"Take it." The writer whispered, she held her hands below her waist. I could see tears trailing down her eyes, but it was blurry due to my own. "You've helped me so much, Zoe." She sniffed. "But this is all that I could do." She strode towards me, and her arms encircled me with ease, she felt very warm.

"Percy would've loved to have you over." Sally whispered, "He would've taken a while to figure it all out, but I'm sure that you'd have managed to get it through his think skull in a week." Her hug tightened, and I returned it with as much force as I could muster through my surprise. "You're a really, really nice girl Zoe, and I would've been very happy seeing someone like you with my Percy. The two of you would've been good for one another."

"You think so?" I didn't know what to say besides that.

Sally pulled back, and gave me the biggest smile. Her smile reminded me of him so much I had to start wiping away my tears. I could already see his stupid smile, his stupid head-scratching, and the stupid worried look he gave me and everyone else that made my heart beat so much faster.

"I know so." She stated with absolute conviction.

I believed her.

…

Truth be told, I didn't really expect to be able to sneak into Rome, but when I considered my aptitude for stealing things, I must've subconsciously navigated the sewage pipes and into the city of marble and togas.

I was able to sneak around for around a few minutes before someone realized that the kid wearing a torn jacket and carrying a stuffed duffel bag wasn't one of them and decided to report me to the authorities of the city.

Which were surprisingly kids, like me, though they were quite the assholes, unlike me.

"Keep walking, scum." The man probably two years my senior and wearing some sort of golden armor, pushed me forward with his shield. Sadly it attracted the attention of the girls frequenting a marble pastry shop, and I got disgusted looks in return. I was more than I bit hungry, my last meal probably being around a day ago, and those cakes looked really good. "No eye candy for thieves, in New Roma."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I allowed my mouth to run as I made sure to glance around some more, before winking at the other, female, guard. "And if I wanted to look at some eye-candy all I would have to do is steal a look from the corner of my eye~"

The girl clad in the golden armor, blushed prettily and gave back my compliments with a jab at my stomach with the bottom of her spear.

"Touchy." I muttered, though I was quite happy to see that the folks were still human despite the totally authoritarian regime they lived under. "Mind the bag." I reminded the man and he scowled at me. "The last of my families treasures are in there." I lied and he immediately took greater care of the bag.

Mr. Golden Armor didn't say anything about the fact though, he just made sure that it wasn't dragging on the ground or hitting the marble street posts anymore. Of course, if he knew that there was enough jewels in the bag to feed a small family for gods know how long, he would probably have done the same thing.

Except steal it in the process, my thieving instincts tell me that people like wealth and even the best disciplined soldier can be bribed with enough money…

I really, really need to start a new hobby or something, the behavior of acting and thinking like the thief of my past will get me trouble in the future.

We stood in front of a tent, many, many minutes later, with two silver and gold dogs guarding the front. My hands twitched the moment I saw them, and the dogs made out of metal growled at me in return.

Oh thank the gods, finally something that won't let me steal it.

"Down Argetum, Aurum." A whippy voice came from within the tent that made me more than a bit cautious. "Don't kill the spy just yet." The woman came out of the tent, her hair blond and immaculate, her smile was so disarming that the mere sight of her curved lips instantly made me itch towards the sword still hidden against the small of my back. "Though by his instincts I believe that there is more to him that meets the eye."

Her eyes looked past me and I noticed the sods that had been making my life difficult the past half hour were kneeling in front of her.

"Hand me his bag and his weaponry, Stefan." She ordered and the man who'd been holding my bag eagerly gave it to her. Golden boy gave her the switchblade as well, and she raised an immaculate eyebrow when it turned to a spear at her click. "Good job to both of you, your cohort will be commended at your dutiful actions before the day passes." She turned away and gestured for me to follow. "You are dismissed, Stefan, Lucy, my dogs shall guard me against this unarmed and cuffed man quite easily I would imagine."

Ha unarmed, I didn't know how they managed to miss the harness wrapped around my stomach, but I was entering the tent of their leader with a sword that could cut apart a car.

Not that I've tried to cut a car, it just sort of happened when a snake woman tried to ram me with a car while I was walking down the interstate highway.

Magic just seems to fuck with everyone nowadays, I'm just glad that it was on my side.

The tent was barebones, filled mostly by cabinets filled with maps and a single table that had quite a few on it.

"Sit." The beautiful woman ordered, and I had to resist as my body immediately tried to do as she said. The woman raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at my defiance, before her face suddenly turned into a wide smile. "Seems that managing to navigate the sewers of Rome is not your only talent spy…" She cocked her head to the side in a manner that was so cute it must have been illegal. "And now you're managing to resist my Charm Speak."

I gave her the most adventurous smile I could, the fact that I did the expression so little made me wince at the relative amount of effort I had to make to keep it up.

"Flattery is nice and all." I let my mouth run once more, making sure to take account of the dogs nipping at my ankles. "But I'm pretty sure that we can speak like civilized people and get to the bottom of this problem and get all the bad assumptions addressed immediately." I paused. "I'm pretty sure we're supposed to tell our names first, like civilized people, and my name is Percy Jackson."

A small smile broke onto the impassive face of the ethereal woman, it nearly took my breath away, only the fact that I felt it so… unnatural, made me not want to stare at her face the entire day.

At least I can assure myself that I wasn't a pervert in my past life, I was pretty proud to say that I was only looking at her face and wasn't the least interested in looking elsewhere.

"My name…" She seemed to mull the word in her mouth, as if tasting it. I took notice of a puddle of water condensing around a goblet. "Is Teresa, and I am the Praetor of the proud, and noble Camp of Jupiter." She trailed a hand from… places and leveled a finger at me. I took a moment to get a drop of water and used it to unlock the cuffs while she was failing to distract me with her feminine wiles. "I'm sure you know what comes after names are exchanged between a spy and Roman Soldier in army territory."

I grabbed her hand, surprising her and even the dogs that were starting to irritate me.

The table went flying right into my face, papers going everywhere, the dogs clamped down on my legs and a spear of all things erupted from the center of the table and headed straight for my face. I was suddenly glad for my unnatural strength and toughness, as the dogs barely tickled me, and I managed to sidestep the impossible trap so only my shoulder was scratched by the crazy lady named Teresa.

I noticed that my wound took a complete four seconds to close instead of the usual two, kind of life a few of the arrows the snake women used on occasion. That was a weapon that could kill me with ease, and I was almost tempted to bring out Aestus immediately just from habit.

I decided to just grab the spear, pull it through the hole it erupted from and show this girl who exactly she just decided to fuck with.

Spears came to me just as easily to my with swords, though I did find myself not prone to throwing them as often as some of the lighter ones are supposed to be. Lupa told me that I was more adept at heavier spears, ones that were designed to punch through armor, take down horses and smack things.

The spear was most definitely heavy, and even had a need cone at the middle so my opponent didn't touch my hand when I stabbed it through him. I didn't want to kill the girl, so stabbing was immediately out. Horses talked to me, and called me boss so I didn't mess with them.

So that left smacking things, and I was pretty darn good at that to be quite honest.

Strength was something I had in spades, even my ridiculously scrawny body didn't show it I could probably throw a small car.

So it wasn't all that surprising when my slash with the spear went through the desk like a hot knife through flying butter. I winked at the shocked girl that was blocking the hit with her entire body behind a short, golden sword and waved at her with my free hand.

"I think that a handshake tends to come after introductions, eh Teresa?" I joked and butted each of the metal dogs with the end of the spear on their heads strong enough to make them whine and let go of my slightly bloody knees. I was sure that their bites would have chomped a normal persons leg with ease, but I just god a couple of scratches that healed over the moment after they got off my legs.

I planted the spear onto the ground, leaning against it as I helped her up from her sudden fall after the sudden loss of opposing pressure.

"I think I introduced myself improperly." I admitted with a small smirk, I saw her eyes trail over my already healed wounds and the scar that trailed from my the top right of my head and trailed down to my neck. "My name is Percy Jackson, Son Of Neptune."

I widened my smirk, making sure to give her a glimpse of a row very shark like teeth a little over my regular teeth. They elongated and covered the rest of my teeth when I felt antsy, but I was more than calm enough to make sure I wouldn't have to go and pull them out later. As like sharks, when they fully grew in I had to pull them out lest I start mangling my own mouth. The process felt more like removing a splinter than an actual tooth and they grew really fast when I wanted them too.

"Lupa told me." I leveled a full shark-like grin on the shocked blonde, though I was annoyed at the odd attraction that still persisted about her in the back of my mind. "I'm more monster than man, and that I should tell you all to be very careful around me." I trailed my tongue over my lips. "Lest I manage to turn this place upside down."

Teresa's mouth opened and closed several times, and when I heard the clanking of armor outside I gave a small chuckle as I pulled up the hood that her spear thrust managed to push off of my face.

I expected an army to be honest, but in front of me was a blond kid holding an entirely gold spear, a little scar on his lip with electric blue eyes.

He was also at least a foot shorter than I was.

"You going to do something with that kid?" I smiled as began to push the tip away from my face with two fingers. His face suddenly contorted in anger as he tried to keep the spear pointed directly at my face, but I kept it pushed away. "Maybe I should teach a little-"

A rush of wind was my only warning, before I ducked underneath the spear that I left in the tent and I was unable to dodge the slash that splashed my blood across the grass.

…

I disliked the camp before I resigned from my duties towards Lady Artemis, mostly because of the number of arrogant people that passed to and fro from its interior. Too many were far to reckless, getting themselves heedlessly killed on their first quests. I couldn't help but speak against their idiocy whenever they were there, and that influenced the Hunt far more that I cared to think about.

The Hunt was supposed to embody the joy of the Wild and the natural skill that came from hunting beasts and monsters. My actions manifested the dislike for children of the gods, even those with good intentions. I wondered on more than a few occasions, that if my feeling would have amounted to something faster if I had not been bigoted against the campers.

Though I was glad that never occurred, looking at the Poseidon Cabin made me hurt more than when I carried the weight of the sky.

I felt the nudge of an elbow onto my side, and I turned to face the child of Athena that had chosen against joining Thalia in the company of Lady Artemis. Though she seemed to be a good girl, I was not in a good frame of mind when there were moments I was able to speak with her. I was far too lost in grief to adequately make conversation with the girl, and I knew better than to speak to someone who knew him so well.

Misery may have known company, but I did not desire to allow grief to multiply by searching for aid, she and I were both better off grieving on our own times.

The girl, I noted though, seemed far leaner and sharper than I remembered last. Many Children of Athena were prioritized leaders and commanders instead of warriors. They lacked the hardness in the eyes and body, simply because they worked behind the curtain instead of fighting against monsters face-to-face. She was different in every way possible.

Her hair held the same grey streak as mine, though it was cropped so close to her head that the mark was nearly unnoticeable and she didn't need to tie it back any longer. Her physique was more pronounced and she wore modest shorts that were cut slightly above her knee and had her shirt tucked into it, showcasing her lithe body as a side effect. Clipped next to her hat was a bronze pen and the fixed watch was upon her wrist.

"I knew I'd find you here." She stated with absolute certainty behind obscure reasoning that I would probably not understand. "I tend to remember him better around this cabin as well, since he's the Son of Poseidon and all."

…or maybe not…

Did I have something written upon my brow that screamed out: Hello! In love with a dead guy!

Honestly it was as if everyone knew.

"Chiron spoke to me about Luke." I stated and she tensed in anger. It wasn't directed at me, or the name I last mentioned. Her entire figure tensed at the first word. "…I think that you may have something to add to his description of the incident." I finished lightly, not even bothering to say what the Centaur had spoken to me about.

"By the gods of course I do!" The short-haired girl huffed and sat herself upon the sea-stone steps of the cabin. She seemingly withdrew a knife from thin air and began twirling it in the air dangerously, she met my confused expression with narrowed eyes. "I bet he didn't even tell you how exactly the boy escaped did he?" The knife-wielder's eyes glittered dangerously.

"Chiron did not say anything beyond that he had managed to escape." I agreed with a little reluctance, the girl seemed as if she was tip-toeing on a knife and was planning on threatening the knife into submission. My statement seemed to make the dangerous girl angrier and she doubled the speed at which she started throwing the knife into the air, it seemed to be a bronze blur now.

On the subject of the previous metaphor, I thoroughly believe the girl can probably manage to threated an inanimate object, if she acted like that around with everyone.

"Chiron said that we could turn him back to his siblings." She growled through gritted teeth, catching the knife's point between her fingers again and again. I saw scars on her hands, doubtlessly from intense practice. "I told him that we should stuff him into the Ares cabin." Her gray eyes glittered dangerously. "Guess which one of us feels stupid now?"

"In hindsight that move must have been made to make him feel more liable to returning to who he was." I pointed out, I knew that she would acknowledge the point, she was a child of Reason after all. "Trusting him would have been the first step to rehabilitation."

The girl snorted and buried her knife into sea-stone, I saw her arm quiver from the force but the knife was embedded nicely into the rock with ease.

Scary… maybe I was wrong about leaving this girl alone to wade through her grief? I knew that sorrow made some people stronger, but this girl looked like she could give Ares a run for his money.

Well… Lady Athena was pretty scary when she was angry, so it must have translated over to her children in some ways after all.

"Trusting traitors is idiotic." She growled and kicked up the knife before putting it away, gods knows where. "Two plus Two always equals four, Traitors plus Trust means betrayal." Her eyes narrowed. "It is foolish to think otherwise." The intense girl stated darkly. "When we catch him again, I'm not making the same mistake of letting that fool live."

When she finished speaking she was by my side, but facing the other direction. I felt a force between the two of us, simply because of our opposing natures.

I went through the grief and emerged with greater understanding, accepting my fate of loving someone that was dead and gave their life for me.

She went through the pain and emerged stronger and harder in body and mind, she didn't want any part of that pain ever again.

So who was really the victor between the two of us? The one that didn't change and was still trapped by her feelings, or the one that changed so much because of what she felt?

I had the feeling that such things wouldn't matter in the future.

I turned to face her and she raised a brow and turned to face me as well, she was clutching at her right arm with her left, possibly apprehensive.

"My name is Zoe Nightshade, ex-lieutenant of Lady Artemis." I offered her my hand and she blinked owlishly for a few moments. "I see that you're quite different from who you were from the last time we met, and I think its best we introduce ourselves again." Comprehension drew onto her face, along with a satisfied smirk. Most the camp probably didn't know what to make of her sudden change and were probably wholeheartedly ignoring her changes, they were teenagers after all they couldn't deal with missing lunch on a good day.

"Annabeth Chase." She grasped my hand with gusto, her grip actually made me wince slightly. "Daughter of Athena and there isn't a weapon I can't put my hands on that I can't master." She gloated with a wide smirk. "I'll be looking forward to having with us on the team."

Now that particular fact made me raise my own eyebrow.

"You've already assembled a team?" I inquired and she gestured for me to follow her to the large house that housed the insufferable Dionysus. I hefted both my duffel bag and the bag that contained my bow exclusively. The long sleeves of the jacket Sally gave me made it slightly difficult, but the number of pockets both inside and outside made me willing on compromising on it.

Nothing to do with the fact it has property of Percy Jackson written in the hemline at all.

"Yeah…" She scratched her cheek similar to how he used to scratch the back of his head, she made a point of looking away from my bag. I blushed when I realized that she must have seen the 'PJ' stenciling on it. "It'll be appropriate to say that they assembled themselves though." The short-haired girl took another glance at the duffel. "Percy's mom give that to you?"

"Yes." I managed to squeak past my rapidly heating cheeks. I hoped my complexion would help hide the rising blush, but given the fact I spent the day working the counter while Sally prowled the candy lanes, crashed in the afternoons, and exercised mostly at night, I doubted that my skin would hide it as well as before. Peach conveyed red a heck of a lot better than light brown, after all.

"Always liked her." Annabeth mused with a wistful smile. "Standard kit?" She inquired shortly after.

"Nectar, Ambrosia, Full Surgical Aid Kit, emergency hydration gel." I supplied a few of the things within the bag. "A few other things too, Sally didn't really take any chances."

"Better than currency, ambrosia and nectar only." Annabeth groused, running her hand through her short hair, looking as if she remembered something unfortunate. "You'd think they'd give us something more than that after hundreds of years' worth of dead quest-takers." She was silent for a few steps before she quirked her head to the side. "Surgical kit."

"I'm well versed in emergency surgery." I grimaced at the bad memories of medical school the subject brought up, and even the worse memories of taking the odd arrow head and spike out of my fellows. "The Hunt is self-sufficient in almost every way." I tacked on habitually at the end.

"I know, I know." Annabeth drawled, putting her hands to the back of her head and taking exaggerated steps. "I've read the brochure twice before I decided I wouldn't join the girl scouts." She leveled a look at me with a single eye, and I just shrugged.

"Force of habit." I explained. "Been recruiting and selling spots for centuries, can't exactly stop on a dime, you know?"

"You've been out of the Hunt for half a year." She accused with a small smirk.

"Which is a penny compared to hundreds of years." I fired back just as quickly, returning the smirk with a quirk of my lip.

We shared a chuckle.

"I hated you." She pointed out when we reached the porch of the Big House. "But it seems normal life managed to thaw off a bit of that Ice Queen, and I'm actually enjoying being around you now."

I gave a small huff, crossing my arms.

"And it seems that you'll actually be able to put a fight now." I gestured towards her far more trim body. "Unlike the pudgy girl you used to be."

"I'll have you know I got a lot of compliments when I was pudgy!"

"Well don't you get a lot more now?" I raised a brow at her while she blushed lightly.

"Those don't count." She stated vehemently, knocking on the door to the house after she found it locked. "And besides, the guy I'd been interested in is living it up in Elysium."

"No other male could compare." I drawled and took a seat in one of the garishly painted chairs. "No other man could manage such flawless, windswept hair."

"No other boy can manage to look so good in armor two sizes too big." She quickly picked up on the joke, a wistful smile quickly forming on her face.

"No one could make it seem like talking to horses is natural."

"No other person could manage to get himself turned into a hamster in less than thirty minutes on a random island."

We both gave a sigh of wistfulness.

"I'd give anything to have him back." Annabeth admitted.

"Some here."

We were silent for a fair amount of time.

"We'll give him hell when reach Elysium though, right?"

"That's a given." I agreed with a smile.

…

Being in chains, I decided, was not fun.

There must have been quite a few policemen in the ranks of the Romans, I could barely shuffle forward with the chains on. My arms were tied my neck, and the connecting strand went to the cuffs on my ankles. They were made of the same material as the weapons they used to corner me. Shuffling was pretty much the only way movement for me now.

I was dropped forward onto my knees and the blindfold they had used to blind me was taken off.

I had to give a whistle, and the guard by me gave me a punch to the stomach in return, not that I cared in particular the guy broke his wrist and I didn't even feel the hit.

I learned very quickly that engaging the entire Roman legion in single combat was a bad idea. I didn't know what exactly these guys planned to fight, but they had tactics down pat. Less than thirty minutes after I've been playing around with my opponents, basically just using hands and legs so I didn't kill them outright, The tents around me collapsed and I suddenly faced an entire army.

Phalanxes led by a ridiculous number of spears, most being pikes that were nearly a good fourteen feet long and glistened against the sun with their golden points, managed to keep me at bay while javelins made being in the middle difficult.

Then I saw the armored elephant.

I knew when to stop fighting and that was around the time you see a freaking elephant in the distance.

I was pretty sure I could toss a small car around, but elephants could move and the one that the Roman's were advancing on me looked like it could take down a concrete wall.

So I gave up, and they captured me.

"This Senate of New Rome is now in session," Teresa declared in a toga with a purple cape-thing, the guy clothed like her and sat next to her seemed bored but his eyes honed onto me like an eagle. "We are here to listen to the claims of this foolish spy, and see to it his threat to our society ended."

And apparently brought me to the center of their government, maybe I should have been nicer to them or something? They were the ones that arrested me first anyways, can't really argue with that particular fact right?

Swear to the gods if they decide I should be executed I'm swinging out Aestus and bringing this roof down.

"This boy doesn't seem to be much of a threat to be issued an anti-titan tactic upon." The hawk-eyed man's eyes seemed to search me for any weakness. "Had you simply forgotten to restrict his access to water, Teresa? The results of his mysterious strength would assuredly be identified by his claims to be a Son Of Neptune."

She rounded onto him with a growl, gripping the arms of her marble throne hard.

"And, pray tell where were you my fellow, Praetor?" The blonde hissed at him. "Where was the Vigilant Hunter, Triest, of New Rome, when a monster went past his Legion and into his army's base?"

"I was protecting Rome and not paving the way for inept boys and girls to take upon quests that will shape the future of Rome." The man apparently named Triest shot back quickly, his eyes turning into a glare at the woman mere feet away from him. "The word fell upon my ears that your two pet champions suffered from this misguided youth's actions, maybe that's why you're so ready to end his life?"

"Peace Praetors of Rome." An elderly man rose from his seat in the massive circle, he wore the same clothes though he had a beard that made him plain awesome. "The beast has surrendered itself to us," Okay not so awesome anymore, and here I was thinking that making someone older would make him wise. "The Titans has merely sent this as a test of our fortitude. Putting it down would be the wisest course of action."

There was a chorus of assent within the Senate, and my fingers itched for Aestus as a smug smirk made its way onto the lips of the woman sitting over me.

"All in favor of executing and sending this beast back to its master, call Aye." The woman's eyes glittered with success as 'Ayes' started to come from each man one by one, I guessed that more than a few of the people were charmed by her the same way she tried to do to me. "Those who abstain?"

The hawk-eyed man seemed to look at certain people and nodded at them.

Thirteen raised their hands and they all called for abstain, including the man sitting by Teresa.

The woman's smile seemed to widen, and I would bet a hundred dollars those old folks were just about to have heart attacks.

"All who say nay?"

I was pretty freaking sure I should bust out the sword when silence filled the entire marble structure when there was suddenly a giant scuffle at the entrance.

"Nay! Nay! Nay!" A hooded figure rushed while clutching a ripped apart teddy bear. "For the sake of all the gods above you must not go through with this, Teresa!"

"I will be addressed by my Title in the Senate Augur." Teresa stated coldly. The hooded figure clicked her tongue, since I could clearly discern female voices from those of males, it wasn't hard to figure out.

"We don't have time for this!" The Augur insisted, thrusting the mutilated teddy bear for all to see and bear witness to the horror. "This Son of Neptune is heaven sent! He is an ally!" She insisted more for my favor, vehemently. "Killing him will darken the oncoming days by humongous margins!"

"The Senate has spoken." Teresa stated through her teeth, though the man next to her looked very pleased. "Your futuristic words are hollow Augur, and the threat this boy brings is present."

"Then why did he not kill you all?" The hooded lady stamped her foot down. "The reasoning behind that particular fact must be brought to light before we end his life."

"He could not kill us." Teresa stated through gritted teeth. "We had all his weapons, and even the treasures he kept hidden in his pack, undoubtedly from the Titan's themselves."

Oho, little miss perfect didn't want to talk about how I took her spear from her, eh?

"No you did not!" The Augur suddenly proclaimed, she reached for the duct tape that tied up my mouth and ripped it off.

I heard a few groans from the audience, besides my own.

"Shit, Fuck." I tried to wipe my face, but didn't succeed since my arms were tied to my back. "Couldn't you have pulled it off slowly?" I asked, "Gods…" I muttered as the stinging began to wither away as they healed away.

"Sorry." The girl stated meekly and quietly before rounding onto the parapets that surrounded the two of us. "This man has been blessed with a weapon of divine strength and fury! None of our armory can compare to it!" She pointed at my back, a little above where I had my hands tightened against Aestus. "And it is hidden to our eyes, his hands bound to the weapon that could kill us all at this moment."

"Is this true?"

"I'm out."

"Same here, don't want to deal with this."

"Order, Senators!" The bearded man who wanted me killed, roared and everyone sat themselves down pat. His eyes were filled with loathing when he met mine, and I had the feeling that he maybe just hated a lot of other things and not just me. I also felt that I could like those other things a lot more than him. "Show us your mighty tool, monster." He growled at me.

"Dinner first old man." I snarked at him and there a smattering of chuckles in the audience. "Civilized people have manners before asking people to take off their clothes." I tsked-tsked, though it would've had more effect if I would've been able to wave my fingers.

Then the girl who had been supporting me smacked me upside the head that made my vision tremble.

"Shut up, I'm trying to save your life." She hissed. "I know Lupa, she probably taught you all about our greed, but you need to trust me: if you don't show that thing you're not getting out of this place without a fight."

"Please do not connive with the suspect." Triest drawled from his post, he sat forward now, actually looking interested instead of bored. "C'mon, kid, prove my fellow wrong." I swear I heard Teresa's teeth gritting from all the way down where I was, and I was pretty sure that guy wanted me to show off just to piss her off.

I can deal with that.

I met the eyes of my 'savior'.

"You might want to back off a bit." I nodded off for her to take a few steps away and she blinked rapidly for a few moments.

"Oh! Okay." She backed off, thank the gods, I didn't want to repay her by burning her to a crisp, that would just be poor manners.

I pressed against the button that extended the baton, and I felt the gold drip onto my clothes and onto the floor. I checked the harness and I was happy to find it still intact, along with my clothes.

It must teleport to my hands when it was activated, so I didn't have to worry about it being stolen after all.

I winked at the blonde who practically looked like she wanted to scream before shoving the sword right into the solid marble.

I really expected it to just dig into the marble and showoff the fact it can cut easily into anything, I really did honestly, but I knew that it was a bad idea the moment I felt the familiar pull on my stomach.

The tip entered the marble and I had to grip it with both hands as it began to vibrate like a giant phone.

Then the entire floor seemed to crack, pristine white marble giving away to dozens of cracks coming from my sword. Just when I was worrying that I would have to explain that particular fact, the ground where my sword touched glowed… and then exploded.

Then all the cracks glowed.

At once.

All two dozen of them.

"Shit." I random person upon the precipices summed up nicely before he ducked behind his marble throne like everyone else.

I acted quickly and grabbed the girl a few steps behind me with my left hand, keeping a firm grip on the sword with my right. I managed to grab her cloak and held her against me, muffling her screeching just as everything around us exploded.

And the ground gave way and we were free-falling on a slab of roc down and down into the earth.

Just when I thought this sword couldn't get any more ridiculous.

Super-cutting edge, beam slicing, and now the ability to bury all my enemies in a pile of rubble.

I wish I could meet the person who made this and give him a big hug, I really, really did, because it's so awesome.

I waved away the dust that covered me. and the girl immediately disentangled herself from me.

She glared at me from beneath her hood, as if accusing me.

"I told you to back off." I shrugged and pulled out my sword from the biggest slab of marble in this pit.

Everyone on the parapets were now about three stories above me, and I had to yell at them to be heard.

"Does this mean I get my get out of jail free card?"

…


	3. Chapter 3

The Sword: Reforged.

…

Disclaimer: I do not earn money from this.

…

Penal Legion admittedly sounded very weird, but I really should've expected them to pull something like it to keep me out of New Rome. In the latter days of the Roman Empire, when it was flailing about in civil war, prisoners were sent out to fight barbarian hordes. I wasn't exactly a prisoner, since they still hadn't figured out how the heck I managed to break out of those gold cuffs. As it stood I got a 'V' stamped on my right arm, and a line underneath it. V for vinctus I was told, which easily translated into prisoner, and the line was for the beginning a year of service.

Yeah, they still expected me to do what they said even though I got nothing in return. I wasn't allowed into their universities, into their libraries, their retirement homes, and maybe even their ships. There was no way I was getting into one of the legions, let alone get to bunk with them. In all sense I wasn't allowed any benefits or pay, but I had to work for them anyways. It would've been tough luck for me, if not for the fact I had one hundred thousand dollars' worth of cash from selling half the crown off.

I went back and rubbed it into their faces, along with my new address in the town closest to New Rome. Turns out that people are much more willing to part with property when the cash is right in front of their face. I didn't even need to use the Mist to convince the landlord to sell me the house I had been eyeing.

Probably because it was a dump, that definitely had something to do with it. It was one of those suburban houses that stayed after the rest of the suburbs got swallowed up by the strip malls and Wal-marts. The owner hadn't exactly been keeping it maintained, so the paint way chipped, the windows cracked, and there were tiles missing in the roof.

On the other hand, I didn't have to run from monsters anymore, had twenty grand on hand, and plenty of time on the other. I was more than prepared to fix up my new house, and make it look like a giant kick to the nuts to the Senate. Throw me out of the barracks? I'm going to make my own house! One with a training area, a television and a fridge!

…you know what… forget about the training area…

The construction of my glorious new man-cave was a great journey, that was helped by my decision to actually give myself a name. Though the process was a lot easier said than done, I introduced myself as 'Percy' for some reason to the Senate. It clicked well enough, probably my name from my criminal past. I scribbled on a last name too, but it was really too silly to talk about. I think that it was 'DeBlue' or something like that, sounded pretty stupid but I really couldn't come up with anything else, and I liked the color.

Still kept the outside pretty scrummy though, there were a lot of kids running around and I didn't want them to get any ideas if I decided to color it nice and cheery. A new coat of gray paint, replaced windows, and tiles but I didn't fix the dead yard or the picket fence. Nice and comfy inside, scary on the outside, it appealed to my fading past of a criminal who just wanted to be alone.

It would've been nicer if it actually worked as I had intended.

"You know I heard that you get fed at camp." I pointed out to the girl rummaging through my fridge. "Fancy foods, too."

"Fancy, healthy foods." Lyra held a frozen pizza carton in one hand, and one of the tubs of ice cream I kept in the refrigerator in another. The Augur's nose crumpled when she examined the insides of the actual fridge, and not the freezer. "Though your fridge is nearly just as bad."

"Salads are cheap to make." I protested, feeling more than slightly outraged about the insides of my fridge being filled with healthy foods. "And I've got plenty of meat in there."

"But you have no bread." The moocher cried out, closing the refrigerator and putting the pizza in the oven and the ice cream into the microwave. As good as my fridge was, it tended to turn anything I put into the freezer into chunks of ice. The ice cream was literally ice. "What I would give for a nice piece of white bread…"

"I'll buy some with my next paycheck." I grumbled as the girl gave a squeal and lumped herself on the couch next to me. She was already beginning to demolish the carton of ice-cream, calories were quite important for seeing the future apparently. I was a bit unconvinced of it, until I realized that the girl never seemed to gain weight even though she ate twice as much as I did. "Honestly most of my paychecks go down to food now."

"I'd help but I can't exactly get a job like you." The sandy-blonde moocher huffed as she continued to ravage the carton of ice cream. The girl kept her hair cut short, with tufts sticking in every direction, quite different from the usual athletic ponytails that the other Roman girls favored. "Besides, I've been giving you stellar reviews so far, maybe the Senate will send you on a quest like you're supposed to."

"I'd rather you don't eat me out of house and home before that happens." I grumbled as I changed the channels. I stopped when I came to a documentary on the Empire State Building though, an intense feeling of Déjà vu going on before I started changing it against. "How are things going in the Senate."

"They're more focused on sending out expeditions to get Imperial Gold than on quests." The Augur sighed, and put away the empty carton of blueberry ice cream. I didn't know what she was depressed by: the lack of ice cream, the wait for the pizza, or the Senate's lack of interest in sending out quests that she said were needed. Having known her for quite some time, I knew the last of them was the least likely to be true. "So a month or two will probably-."

There was a rapid knocking on the door, and I was about to answer it when it was kicked in.

A boy with a scar on his lip, followed by a girl with pitch black hair came barged into my house and pushed up the door. Several thuds later, and some loud screeching they both gave a relived sigh.

"Oi, I hope you're going to pay for that." I stated irritably as the two began to move the second couch to block the door. "Or at least re-hinge it for me."

"Jason? Reyna?" Lyra questioned and the two turned towards her immedeitly. Yeah, go ahead and ignore the person who owns the house you just broke into, no way he won't kick your ass three ways to Sunday. "What are you two-."

"Rome is under attack." The boy named Jason breathed out, "We ran… to get the Penal Legion."

"You've got five legions already." I pointed out with a huff, though I did give the two glasses of water without getting up from my seat. It was easy to do really, I got water, put it in the cup, turned the cup over and placed it in front of them. The black haired girl seemed to eye me with mistrust, until I got closer and she blinked rapidly at my height. They took the cold glasses of water and drank with gusto. "I doubt they need my help…"

Honestly, just because someone has a sword that can incinerate everything, doesn't mean that you should ask him to help out every single time. That was a recipe for incompetence, and me lacking sleep in the immediate future. I didn't care about the former, but I really liked sleeping on the bad that I paid for.

"The sea monster of Troy has surrounded the city." The black haired girl stated with such a straight face I was afraid she was glare a hole into my wall. "The Legion is stuck within it, we had been practicing the defense of our city today. Jason and myself utilized my Pegasus to fly out, but we were shot down."

I blinked and turned to the resident Augur.

"Does this happen often?" I inquired, in all seriousness.

Lyra bobbed her head side to side a bit, then settled on shaking her hand in a 'so-so' gesture.

Well I was certainly glad I wasn't allowed in that place.

"Well I have no idea what the heck to do." I admitted and the blonde boy's and the brunette's jaws dropped.

"You're a Son of Neptune!" The boy cried out, making me frown and turn up the volume a bit. Shark week waited for no man, or city in this case. "Can't you go tell it to leave? Or use your sword on it?"

"Sea monster vs Sea monster doesn't work out." I waved my hand in their general direction. Lyra smacked me in the arm, making me frown while she cradled her hand in pain. "What was that for?"

"Explain more." The Augur insisted and I gave a sigh.

"Sea monsters are good against fire and water." I explained and gestured to myself as the two began their protest. "I would know, trust me. Me attacking that thing would just be ridiculous, since I wouldn't be able to do jack against it and it couldn't do the same with me."

"Then what can we do?" The two asked and I gave a shrug. I wasn't in the mood for hard thinking at the moment, it was Shark Week. Televised ocean superiority, I couldn't care less about anything else at the moment. Still, Lyra cleared her throat and held out her hand.

"I believe that I can answer that question." The Augur pulled out a pink teddy bear from her bag, and I handed her the pocket knife I used to hotwire cars ever since I left the Wolf House. Most of her stock of animals was at her place in New Rome, so she insisted I buy her one for all times. Since I had to buy a teddy bear for the express purposes of it getting gutted, I bought a pink one.

"Do it in the kitchen." I demanded, I was not going to pick cotton out of my couch again thank you very much.

The oven's timer went off, and the teddy bear was lost in the joy the pizza brought.

I turned to the two legionnaires who were watching their camp Augur demolish a pizza with gusto. The two seemed to be caught between outrage and shock, and I would've laughed if I didn't have to deal with what caused their reactions every day.

"So do you guys like Shark Week?" I patted my couch, Lyra wasn't going to let up until she finished that pizza.

…

The glyph upon the cavern worried me greatly.

"Delta?" Questioned Annabeth as she made quick work of the climb downward. The girl was trained to the extreme, I had some difficulty climbing down the chasm myself.

"It's the mark of Daedalus." I explained, and brushed my palm over it. The bright blue glow of the man's symbol, told me all that I needed to know. "This is how Castellan managed to escape… or to commit suicide." I added on bluntly.

"Why would the mark of Daedalus be here?" Inquired my skilled partner, her hand twitched toward the pen she carried. The little note of mortality I made must have scared her slightly. "I thought he had died?"

"The Labyrinth connects all places." I explained, and stepped back from the glyph. I did not want to test the Labyrinth just yet. "And Daedalus lives up until this time."

"Do you think that he helped Luke escape?" The edge behind Annabeth's tone made me blink, before making me smile. Artemis would have loved her, already searching for more pray beyond the one she already sought. I had to admit that the short-haired girl was a tad aggressive for my own taste, but I knew she would've made a fine hunter.

"Daedalus cares only for himself, and he has let his creations grow un-minded throughout the world." I explained, it was a common secret in the world that the old inventor still lived. His creations were tied with himself, and many of them, including the labyrinth was still operation because of his life. "Castellan most likely stumbled across this, and utilized it to escape the camp…"

"Or?" Annabeth questioned, since I trialed off.

"The Labyrinth is the deadliest of places to exist." I stated bluntly, there was no use in not telling her everything I knew. That would only prove counterintuitive to our goals. "Castellan entering it alone, even armed as you said he was, would, most likely have ended in his death. I would rather have this gate guarded rather than to tread within it for his corpse."

"He isn't dead." A young boys voice wafted from the shadows, and my heart clenched at the sight of familiar hair and features. Bianca's brother… "I asked around, and he's not pushing up daisies just yet."

"So you and your sister were born of Hades." He twitched at me mentioning of my sister. I could only believe that he held me responsible. I was about to apologize when Annabeth walked over to the boy and gave him a solid thump on the back of the head.

"Missing for a week and now's the time you show up?" The blonde demanded as the young boy cradled the back of his head. It wasn't a serious blow, but I was sure that it stung. Given the rather lithe and athletic form of the one who gave it, I was sure that it was more than a tad painful.

"Oh, Hades!" The boy cursed still doubled over and clutching the back of his head. "I'm feeling dizzy! You could've given me a concussion!" The boy clad in an aviators jacket pointed at Annabeth. "Not everyone trains as much as you, Annabeth! Normal folk can't handle what you and Clarisse do!"

"Man up and answer her questions, Nico." Annabeth huffed and crossed her arms over her torso. "It wouldn't kill you to actually train and not just rely on your gifts, you know?" The blonde added the last part as an afterthought, but I couldn't help but agree. Meeting a few of Hade's sons and daughters, they tended to rely more on their powers than most children of the Big Three.

"If I trained with you and Clarisse I probably would." The boy muttered before straightening and taking a deep breath. His eyes met my own, there was anger there, but not as much as I suspected. "Yeah, Hades put me and Bianca in the Lotus Hotel so we didn't age for a while, waiting for the most opportune moment to get us out and all that." The pale boy rolled his eyes. "Fat lot of good that did, eh?"

I gave a sigh, he wouldn't do well in his report if he was so hampered by his hatred of me.

"Your sister…" It was best if I got it out of the way now, rather than let it fester and pop in the most inopportune moment. "I apologize for leading Bianca to her death, Nico."

The boy blinked rapidly for a moment, and his gaze met Annabeth's who had a smirk on her face.

"Pay up." The blonde held out her hand and the brown haired boy scowled and tossed her a drachma. "Sucker."

"Tch." Nico gave a snort, and waved his hand about. "Fine."

I was sure that I was a fish with the expression I was making.

"B-but why aren't you angry?" I questioned, utterly confused. The smirk on Annabeth's face wore off, and turned stoic as she turned away and began to climb the chasm. That only drove me further into my confusion, by all means.

The boy seemed hesitant, before shaking his head.

"Because I told Percy to follow her."

My heart clenched at the words. It made sense, suddenly, why he wasn't angry and Annabeth's own anger. The young boy couldn't blame me for his sister's death, without blaming himself for Percy's as well. I wanted to be angry, but I couldn't and when I thought about it, I knew why I couldn't as well.

"Percy would've followed us regardless, Nico." I gave a small huff and a small smirk. "I knew him well enough to say that he would've done what he did regardless of what anyone said."

I went about my way out of the chasm, leaving the young boy behind. However, I still heard a soft sob as I left, and withheld my pity. I saw Percy interact with him, how he tried to be an elder figure as Bianca left her own brother. That may have been how I started to take a liking to him, as he didn't place any blame on Bianca, and only made sure Nico was happy. He did it all while he was worrying over his best friend, and his plans to follow us on our journey.

I would've been far more happy to know Nico had hated me, but now he hated himself. I hoped I could help him before he did anything drastic, as many born of Hades did. My words about Percy should help him…

"Do you believe what you said?" I was immediately questioned by Annabeth as I exited the chasm, her voice cold. I hoped that we wouldn't argue so early in our new relations, she would have been a good friend and I wanted her to be.

"Yes." I couldn't allow Nico to continue under the cold shoulders he was probably being given. Percy was popular in the camp, a hero to heroes, I could only imagine what the rest of the camp did to him if the logical nature of a child of Athena warranted such harshness. "And I am sure you know it as well."

The blondes features warmed as a small, sad smile crept over them.

"Yeah, Seaweed Brain would have followed on regardless." The girl clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I just found it easy to dislike him, you know? I couldn't just put it all into training, I was still angry at everything until he told one of the Stoll's and word spread. And then…" The girl shook her head, obviously disappointed in herself.

"You'll find a way to make it up to him later." I promised her, and she nodded dully somewhat lost in thought. I would've liked to leave her to her thoughts, but things needed to be done. "You said something about Percy's brother being here?"

It should be interesting to meet someone who was practically family to Percy. Sally was his mother, but siblings tended to share more to one another than their own parents. That was most certainly the case when it came to the Hunters, Artemis and I both knew that their was a gossip ring within the hunters that we weren't a part of, but it was largely harmless so we let it be without question.

"Yeah, Tyson's at the Hephaestus cabin." That seemed to bring the girl back to earth, her focus returning quickly. "But we need to do something before meeting with him."

"What?" I inquired curiously.

"A friend of mine's in trouble, and you're going to help me get him out of it."

…

"So what's the plan guys." I asked as I walked back into the living room, utterly refreshed. I don't think I'll ever get tired of taking showers. A few weeks without a good showers changes a man. I received a myriad of stares. "What?"

"Put a shirt on!" Lyra threw one of the seat cushions at me, and I batted it away with a huff. Her face was bright red, though I was sure that stopped the second time she saw.

"This is my house." I protested, grumbling as I took one of the many gray shirts I had on hand. The color was unpopular, but being unpopular made it go on sale for a dollar per shirt, so I wasn't complaining. "Bunch of pansies."

"You have a lot of scars." Jason noted with a frown. "Was your trip here that bad?"

"I had most of these before the trip." I huffed as I set myself down on my kitchen table, the living room and kitchen were in the same place. Though it was separated by the peninsula that extended from the wall that the stove was held to. It was efficient, and kept the other rooms pretty large. "Pretty sure I had one hell of a life before I lost all my memories."

"That must suck." Jason commented idly, while Reyna seemed to be more interested on Shark Week. I knew I'd eventually meet someone that liked it as much as I did! She liked it so much she wasn't even looking at me anymore.

"Well I'd guess that someone with regeneration has a better time of it than someone who doesn't." I shrugged as he blinked at my explanation. "I'm just glad I have all my powers, I can't imagine how I would've gotten all the way here without them."

Lyra gave a scoff, and I tossed the seat cushion right back at her. Seeing as my strength was at least an order of magnitude higher than hers, she hit the floor with a dull thud.

I turned to the two still conscious guests in my house.

"So what's the plan."

"We're supposed to find the bow of Hercules." Reyna's voice seemed a bit higher pitched than normal, but otherwise it was similar to the effective tone she utilized before I left. Jason seemed to get a look at her, then began to snigger until she punched him in the side. I didn't pay it much heed, friends did what friends do. "A group of three shall search for the bow that failed to protect the ancient walls, within the deepest of valleys it lies waiting to be absolved for its failures."

"Doesn't seem too hard." I admitted and Jason gave me and a shake of his head.

"Thereupon the arrows must be gathered. The weapons housed in molten rock, aging metal, and under the eldest tree are untouchable by the same poison that will save Rome." Reyna took a deep breath, and I met Jason's eyes as I mouthed 'there's more?' and he nodded back to my displeasure. "Launched from the skies, the arrows nine must pierce the heart of the beast and spread its poison true by the hand of the Son of Jupiter."

"Well at least we got the last part." Jason huffed, huh, I didn't know he was a son of Jupiter. I would've thought the son of a more important god would be more of douche. Jason was really… normal to say the least. "Though I need to say that I'm not looking forward to getting swallowed whole."

"I thought getting swallowed whole is all the rage for all the young soldiers." I quipped, and the blush on the guys face was worth all the money I spent on the house. Wait, scratch that, the look on his face when Reyna started laughing at him, along with me, was irreplaceable. I shook my head, ah jokes were always nice in serious conversations.

"It's not that funny guys!" Jason protested, clearly still bright red from his accidental innuendo. "C'mon stop laughing! We've got to find out where to find all these things before Rome runs out of food!"

"Grand Canyon, Mt. St Helens, Redwood, and Detroit." I wiped a tear from my eye, as the two people the same age as me looked at me as if I had suddenly grown another head. "What?"

"How are you so sure?" I was immediately questioned, and I gave a shrug.

"Probably something to do with my last life again." I tapped my head. "It's kind of easy to understand those prophecies, so long as you put your mind to it. Oldest trees in the US are the redwoods, St Helens is a volcano, Grand Canyon's a valley, and Detroit is rusted junkyard."

Reyna was giving me an odd look, as if we'd seen each other before. I wouldn't lie, I would remember if I'd seen a girl like her before. Of course, that may be the case with my amnesia, but the girl would tell me if she knew anything about me right?

"Well we should get to the Redwood national park as soon as possible." I went over to my closet, bringing out a few duffel bags. I had been strangely compelled to make them the moment I finally had some spare time on my hands, and I didn't see any reason why to argue about it. I packed all the things I thought we needed into them. I tossed them at the two, who received them with no small amount of discomfort. "What're your sizes?"

"Why do you ask?" The only conscious girl inquired, Jason already unzipped his bag and was looking through with something akin to happiness in his eyes.

"I've got a few jackets I picked up at a flea market." I haggled them down to eighty percent their normal price too. The guy who was selling them looked more than a little seedy, so I held none of my criminal skills back. I left with several high quality jackets, and a man weeping softly in his stall. "Leather, better protection than just T-shirts, warm too."

"We're both medium." I got the two sizes, they were brown, and closed up when you put a button through a hoop. Definitely made by hand, which was why I doubted the guy that sold them made them himself. Sleazy, and more than a bit greasy haired, I knew he had haggled some small family down out of the jackets. Made me feel pretty good, since I knew that he didn't even break even.

"What is this thing?" Jason held up the most important part of the duffel bag with reverence in his eyes. Reyna's eyes followed mine, and hers lit up in wonderment as well.

"That is the Annihilator." I smirked as Reyna produced her own out of her duffel. "Three feet of crowbar, hammer and axe. Best tool made in history."

"It's not going to do well against monsters." Reyna pointed out with a placid tone, though the way she was swinging it made me fear for the structural integrity of my home.

"It's for more mundane uses." I stated bluntly, hoping that they'd drop the subject. I got it mostly because it would've been nice to have something that could break into anything short of a safe without pulling out Aestus. "Doors and things."

And cars, windows, fire extinguisher boxes, etc. etc.

Judging by the look I was receiving from the girl, she didn't believe me all that much.

"Plenty of other supplies in there." I handed each of them their jackets. "I figure we'll grab you guys a set of clothes before we head out." I cocked my head as I caught their scent. "And some soap too."

"The monster spat at us." Jason explained weakly, "It dried while we were flying…"

I blinked at that explantion.

"And you're sitting on my couch!?"

Oh this was going to be a long trip.

…


	4. Chapter 4

The Sword: Reforged

…

Disclaimer: I do gain money from this venture.

…

"You guys can come out now." I called for my two companions, pressing Aestus against its sheathe. The sword instantly turned into an extendable baton against the leather, and was already neatly tucked in. "Everything's dead."

Jason dropped from the tree line, while Reyna stalked from an outcropping of rocks. The girl rounded on me immediately and slammed her hand against my face.

Fat lot of good that did, I didn't feel a thing while the look on her face made me worry she sprained her wrist.

"Who -ow-," The raven-haired girl's eyes squinted as she cradled her wrist. "The hell ever taught you that the first thing you do in a fight is to throw someone into rocks?!"

"I was more focused on saving your life than looking for a nice comfortable bush!" I defended my actions against the quite enraged brunette. "You're perfectly fine!"

"Roman's don't just throw their teammates out of the way in a fight!" Reyna changed her tactics immediately. Jason stood behind her and made a zipping motion on his mouth. I had a feeling he dealt with her a lot more than I had, and he was trying to help me out. The guy was honestly really nice, I'm actually starting to worry about him actually getting eaten by the sea monster of Troy now. "We work together!"

Still, that didn't mean I was going to take this lashing like I didn't know any better.

"Well you getting surprised by a Hellhound doesn't say much for your combat skills." I growled out I batted aside the finger poking on my chest. "Excuse me for not just throwing you into the fire, and seeing if you came out just fine."

Jason slapped his palm against his forehead, that was apparently the wrong move, so to speak.

The girl began to redden, and I crossed my arms over my chest. I wondered why I was so stubborn in many cases, I wasn't going to every back down from a fight if could. Letting people walk all over me would never end well. I sure as heck didn't regret throwing Reyna out of harm's way, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

"You almost got your arm torn off!" The legionnaire flipped the rags of what used to be my sleeve on my right arm. Her eyes were basically slits and she was hissing at me quite a bit. If not for the pale skin, I would've thought she was one of those snake women. "I would've been perfectly fine, I carry a dagger for god's sake! I'd have slipped it right between that dog's ribcage…"

"And gotten munched on by the rest of them?" I retorted, gesturing to the dozens of sets of paw prints the size of hubcaps. That particular analogy was quite good, given the fact each of those dogs were easily the size of cars. "Because I can say for certain that these dogs like chewing on demigods, I've tussled with them a lot while I was making my way here."

"You-." I half-expected the girl to start yelling, as she had been beginning to purple like her shirt. "Argh!"

Reyna promptly stomped on my foot and walked away. I wasn't sure where, but she had the map and I couldn't read those sorts of things.

"Do you have a death wish?" Jason looked at me as though I was crazy. His blue eyes seemed familiar, but a lot of things seemed familiar to me in the faintest sense. "Reyna's chewed out the Praetor more than once, she's basically a shoo in for one of the seats! Making enemies with her is just plain idiotic!"

"Well we're not in Rome right now." I pointed out, ignoring the fact that he may have just slightly insulted my intelligence. The guy didn't have a single prideful bone in his body, he just wanted to help and explain why he was so I would trust him. "And I'm not allowed in there anyways."

"…Well then why didn't you yell back?" Jason had the decency to look embarrassed as I raised an eyebrow at his question. "Reyna's a good friend and all… but she's downright too stuck up sometimes you know? Taking her down a few pegs would make her a lot more friends…"

"She doesn't have many?" I asked as he fell in step with me, his nose scrunching slightly as he thought. I noticed an odd scar on his lip, that was oddly shaped. "Why's that?"

"Well Reyna's new." Jason explained with a shrug. "She didn't get to New Rome at eight like all the other kids. She didn't have any allies, so she made up for it with politics…"

"Child of Venus?" I questioned, and Jason snorted. "Far off?"

"Daughter of Bellona." Jason laughed as I had to blink away my surprise. "You'd think people would flock for her affection right?"

"Jeez, second most liked god of the Romans?" I had to whistle, it just seemed appropriate for the moment. "That must be one hell of a load to carry."

"Load?" It was Jason's turn to blink in surprise. "Why would she have a load to carry?"

"Well you're the son of Jupiter right?" I questioned, and the boy gave a quick nod of affirmation. "Don't people expect you to be more powerful or something?"

"Well yeah," The blonde scratched the back of his a little. "I've got to work hard to make sure I don't disgrace my deity or my father, a lot more than regular kids…"

"Well, all you have to worry about is being just a bit better than everyone else right?" I questioned and the boy gave a hesitant nod. "Well look at it in Reyna's perspective, she doesn't have many friends, her mother basically decides when Rome goes to war, and she has everything to prove. Don't you think that's a bit shitty?"

Jason lips set in a firm line, before he let out a loud wheeze.

"And I've been complaining to her about being a Son Of Jupiter all this time." The blonde mourned, holding his face in his hands. I had to steer him away from tripping on roots and trees more than a few times. "Oh gods I feel like such a whiner."

"Well a few friends would still solve most of her problems." I cocked my head to side a little. "Well maybe not friends like you-."

"Hey!"

I put up a finger.

"Hey you didn't notice you were fucking up until about five seconds ago…"

…

"The labyrinth." Grover exuded no small amount of trepidation. The satyr was as worrisome as he was last year. Though, admittedly, he had somehow managed to gain a girlfriend in the time elapsed. "The tracking song doesn't work in there, you know that right?"

"But it leads to all places in the end." I explained, as I tapped the Delta on the paper upon the table. "The lost god of the wild, Pan, will most probably be the easiest to find here."

"We're not exactly looking for the Wild." The satyr seems almost… terse? The goat legged man hasn't been as obnoxious as he had been last time I had spoken with him. Granted that was before Percy died but… "I don't think I'll be very useful in there, unless you want me to go delivering things back to camp."

"Oh," Percy had sent him away on the Ophiotaurus the last time we had seen each other. "I must admit that I didn't think this through before I asked."

The satyr crossed his arms and heaved a small sigh.

"It's just that…" The goat-legged man ran a hand through his goatee. "I don't want to be dead weight anymore. There's a lot of other satyrs out there than can track the Wild, and plenty of them can use a cudgel better than me."

"I doubt that." Grover's eyes sharpened and he regarded me as I spoke. I hurriedly began to explain, before the tension could mount any further. "Ah, I did not mean to lie about your abilities, I merely wanted to state that the god Pan is very selective of the people he sends aid to. I doubt any other satyr will be able to find him but yourself.

"…you know that you and Percy are so alike it's almost terrifying?" The satyr sighed suddenly, confusing me utterly. "He'd look the same way if I said that, you know? I'd probably just confuse him…"

"I wouldn't say no to learning more about, Percy." I attempted to sound as though I wasn't begging, but that attempt failed solidly. The satyr had the nerve to chuckle lightly at my question.

"Both of you have no idea on how you affect people." Grover explained with a small smile. "The two of you act like being empathetic, and compassionate is the _norm_ and not the exception. You even told the elders off the same way Percy probably would have."

"I certainly doubt Percy would have gotten much respect from those old goats." I had to scoff at the thought of someone such as Percy could have intimidated the elders of the satyrs. They were far too idiotic to ever listen to someone speaking sense. "They'd have placed him under affiliation and utterly demolished your case."

"But he wouldn't have cared anyways." The satyr gave a hearty laugh from his chair across from me. "He wouldn't have been able to get me out of there without a massive deadline on my head, let alone scot free like you did."

"I've had more experience in utilizing my supposed compassion." I demurred with a slight smile. "I'm the edges of the golden laurels, are best sharpened when given to an enemy."

"You'd have been great for him." Grover's tone carried a wistfulness about it. "You'd have kept him from doing stupid things, while helping him do stupid things."

I didn't actually know what to say to that statement, and judging from the chuckling on the faun's part, it showed on my face fairly well.

"Goat man!" An oddly dull tone carried over, and I was surprised to see Annabeth striding towards us with a Cyclops. The humanoid monster picked Grover up in a hug that made me fear for the man's spine. "I missed you!"

"Yeah." The satyr panted through his teeth, obviously having trouble breathing. "You'll miss me a lot more if you don't let me breathe."

"Zoe." Annabeth greeted and I nodded back. My name seemed to garner the attention of the Cyclops. "Zoe meet Tyson, Tyson meet Zoe."

"Hello-." I greeted the very tall Cyclopes, only to be snapped up in a similar hug. I was glad for my shortened hair, since having my follicles ground against my spine was most assuredly not the best of feelings.

"Cousin!" The Cyclops proclaimed, and I blanched at that. My reaction seemed to grander attention and I was held out and inspected for a moment. A single, brown own regarding me and everything that I stood for. "Not Cousin?"

As I was born a Hesperide, I had no doubt that I was cousins with the Cyclops. I was very far off from that particular line of relations though, especially if my exile was taken in to proper account.

"Err…" I found myself unable to say such things as the Cyclops regarded me with his watery, brown eye. "I'm a bit removed?"

"Still cousin to me!" The Cyclopes happily declared and my spine was put under strain once more. Grover was looking at me with pity, rubbing his own back and Annabeth was more than slightly amused by the entire debacle. "Happy to meet you!"

"Right back at you big guy." I managed to wheeze, when the tension suddenly loosened and my feet hit the marble flooring of the eating area. The watery eye was openly tearing up right in front of me!"

"Big guy…" The Cyclops suddenly seemed utterly despondent, and I looked helplessly to my other two companions. The two both gave me shrugs, and shook their heads in tandem. Fat lot of good they were. "Brother always called me that."

Seeing as there had only been one child born of Poseidon the past few decades, it didn't take much logic to allied to whom the Cyclops was speaking of.

"Percy called you that?" I asked and the Cyclops sniffled as he shook his head in assent.

"Brother always called me big guy." The Cyclops dabbed his watery eye with his sleeve. "Doesn't call me anything now…"

Then I was suddenly in the grip of a Cyclops that was quite sad, my two companions giggling as my assailant began to blubber and hug me closer.

Quite the team this was.

…

"The oldest tree." I mused as I shaded my eyes from the sun, shifting the duffel over my shoulder. "Doesn't look very special to me."

"That thing's as tall as a skyscraper!" Jason speculated in awe, I was afraid he'd fall backward the way he was craning his neck. "That must have been around since the beginning of time!"

"I wouldn't doubt it." Reyna examined, stomping solidly upon the massive root that we were stepping upon. "I don't think any normal tree could grow to this height, without being influenced by divine power."

"So where do you think the arrows are?" I inquired and I was leveled a look from both my companions. I realized the words that just came out of my mouth, and the fact we were on a quest to save New Rome. "Yeah, top, probably, got it."

"Well at least we've got Squirrel boy to get us up there." Reyna smirked as she addressed Jason, who looked affronted for some reason.

"Squirrel boy?" I teased the blonde, who sputtered as Reyna began to giggle. "Any story behind that?"

"Jason can fly." The grin on Reyna's face told me there was more behind the simple statement. "First time he decided to show it off, he flew right into a tree and got a mouth full of acorns."

Reyna and I shared a chuckle while Jason's face went beet red.

"You know what?" Jason took several deep breaths, calming himself. The winds died down as he probably calmed them too in his attempt to rein in his emotions.

"Go fetch the arrows boy!" Reyna teased lightheartedly, making my chuckles continue. Both our faces were flush with the light teasing we'd given. "Go get em!"

"I'm not some sort of dog!" Jason declared, before a massive gust of wind blew us in every direction.

"Jeez Jason!" I heard Reyna call from a little to my right. "It was just a joke!"

"That wasn't me!" I heard from somewhere behind me.

Something dripped onto my shoulder, and I looked up.

It seemed to be a bird made completely of metal, a single Ruby eye glistening in a massive socket the only color besides iron and bronze upon its beak. Oil was on my sleeve, as that was probably its version of saliva.

" Giant Stymphalian birds!" Reyna cried out as the bird lunged for my eyes. I grasped the massive metal bird between my hands, and crushed it Something inside the metal bird went 'squish' and suddenly my hand felt as though it was on fire. I threw aside the man-sized bird and drew water from my canteen to clean the wound. "Their fecal matter is highly corrosive!"

Wow, that is a literal shit defense, how I wish I had never encountered it already.

Three larger birds made completely out of metal dive-bombed me before I managed to take Aestus out. I caught one by the neck, wrestled it into submission, and broke its neck. Whatever fluid it had, stayed inside and didn't do me any harm.

"Jason!" I yelled, and the blonde boy made a beeline for me, his feet not actually touching the ground as he went. The Roman Legionnaire looked at me as though I was something out of a horror movie, his eyes absolutely wide. "Go get Reyna and deal with whatever's guarding the arrows at the top of the tree."

"I'm not just going to leave you behind." Jason's shoulders were square and I gave a snort. "Don't laugh! We're going to do this together!"

"As much as I know you can carry more than five hundred pounds of human and equipment up a skyscraper, we're just going to be sitting ducks against those birds if we're that slow." The blonde seemed ready to protest, but I cut him off. "I'm part of the Penal Legion, Jason. It's practically right in my resume that says that I hold off the enemy for as long as possible."

Reyna was covered in black oil as well, a golden blade shining in her right hand.

"Kiss and tell later, boys." Reyna huffed, and I couldn't help snort as Jason blustered. "We need to take care of the nest mother, or this'll never end."

Seeing as Jason was a spluttering wreck, Reyna couldn't fly, and the two birds were coming back with friends, I had to take the situation in my hands.

I grabbed the hems of the jackets I bought for them.

Reyna's eyes widened to the size of plates when she realized what I was about to do to her, again.

"No, please, no-."

"Sorry, Reyna." I grunted, and I chucked them both up. Jason grabbed onto the brunette and flew into the foliage of the massive tree. "I'll make up for this one next time, I promise!"

A giant bird slams into me, beak trying to cut off my arm. The water I just used though, made that particular attempt at evisceration pointless. I could've been hit by a truck at that point and _won_.

I took a moment to make sure it was looking at me while trying to bite my arm off, and shook my head as I punched whatever it used for a brain right out of its skull.

"Bad bird." I quipped as I pulled out Aestus, the familiar pull on my stomach growing as the edge became bright red. A few days of rest, and I'm feeling more than slightly energetic. The sword is leaving behind embers while I swing it experimentally. A flock of the iron and bronze birds hover over me, like they were the hunters. "How about I teach you lot about who's at the top of the food chain around this place?"

I felt water within the roots of the massive tree, and willed it out. A geyser formed, spewing gallon after gallon before the immortal tree healed itself.

The water swirled around my legs, and the five Buick-sized birds charged right at me.

The birds were good, a lot better than that pack of hellhounds we'd had an unfortunate encounter with earlier. The birds worked in tandem, and had the advantage of speed over me. They took little bites that scratched at my arms. They were more than slightly used to killing demigods, since I would've been unable to attack with my arms in pieces.

Speed and the ability to get through my skin with water flowing through me. If they had the strength of the snake-ladies, I was sure that they would have been able to take me down. They didn't though, and that sucked for them.

A bird tried to bite off another chunk of flesh, but I was ready this time. I shoved my arm down it's throat, relinquishing my two-handed grip on Aestus. My strike with my right arm, cleaved the bird's head right off its body.

And then I had a bird head attached on me.

I chucked the soccer-ball sized head right into one of the birds. Metal met metal, but my throw and my target's charge at me allowed my projectile to win. Two heads met, and two heads flew away.

The three remaining birds were skittish, and maybe even a tiny bit afraid they began to circle around me and…

_Oh hell no._

"Oh hell no." I dodged as acidic bird fecal matter began to drip all around me, the tree was healing itself so they didn't endanger their home. I was sure that I was the only person that was currently being threatened by bird poop of all things. "This shit is not going to stand!"

I palmed my face with my oil-covered hand when I realized what I just said.

I pointed a blackened finger at the birds strafing me with their acidic droppings.

"You made me use a _pun._" I cursed the birds with every fiber of my being. I took out the switchblade, and the heavy spear I'd managed to gain popped out the moment I flipped it opne. "It's game ON! You'll be a value meal by the time I'm done with you!"

...

"My back…" I groaned as I tried to pop the kinks from the hug session I'd been with my new ocular impaired friend. My other friend was currently giggling behind her hand as we walked towards the aptly named Big House. "Foresight on Percy's brother would have been quite nice Annabeth."

"You said you wanted to know about Percy." Annabeth teased as she crossed her arms over her trim figure. More than a few boys our way stumbled as we passed, much to my amusement. "I merely let you know much more about him, you should be thanking me for that amazing experience!"

"Hardly…" I grumbled as I stopped the movement that was making a few men drool. The fact that I had been a Hunter of Artemis aside, I felt slightly flattered by the attention. A larger part of me was amused, because no one had a chance. "…Your camp seems to be teeming with far more voyeurs that before."

Annabeth actually made a grimace at that, and glared at a boy carrying a box full of daggers. The boy nearly tripped and experienced the pain of a thousand cuts, but he managed to gain his footing as he made a pointed attempt of walking away rapidly.

I raised a brow at her reaction, and she raised a brow back.

Then she began to giggle, and I couldn't help but giggle myself.

"Oh look at me." Annabeth suddenly began to walk while exaggeratedly shaking her hips. "My back hurts! Let me shove it so far that you can imagine grabbing them!"

I felt a blush rise on my face, two can play at that game Annabeth!

"Oh!" I held up a hand against my face. "Why do I look so surprised? Am I laughing at you? Do you wish to see my smile? Kiss my lips perhaps?"

My opponent laughed, outright guffawed at my attempt to get her back. I felt more than slightly pained at my failure.

"Hiding my lips?" Annabeth snickered, "What is era is that from? The fourteen hundreds?"

"It was considered a great temptation to men!" I protested as my companion shook her head, not a hint of embarrassment on her features. My own face must have been bright red by then, my ears felt as though they were on fire!

"You could have pointed out my shorts." My friend rolled her eyes while gesturing at her legs. I had to blink rapidly as my mind switched from looking at combat potential, to the amount of sheer skin she was actually showing.

"That's very crass…" I muttered and my blush felt welded onto my features, both from her brazen gesturing and my previous embarrassment. "Don't you feel embarrassed?"

"Says the girl practically gave every guy an eyeful a second ago?" My companion teased and gave a light laugh. "I guess there really was only one guy I would've been embarrassed to get seen like this, I don't really care now."

"The attention is flattering though…" I found myself saying, and the short haired blonde looked at me bemusedly. "…er… Did I say that aloud?"

"You're so much like Percy." The blonde warrior shook her head with a small smirk. "I'd thought that Thalia and Percy were alike, but you're just as much of a knucklehead as he was…" She gained a thoughtful expression, her brow furrowing in deep thought. "A bit of a far cry from the last time we met, Thalia said that you had a rather large stick up your butt-."

"Thalia's descriptions are as colorful as always ." I cut off my friend dryly and she gave me a pout that I had to chuckle at.

As I walked along the same trail he had walked, I couldn't help but think of what would he have thought if he saw me now. Would he be happy that I'm with his friends, helping them out? Or would he disappointed that I didn't just choose to live quietly into my now-mortal life?

Hah, as if Percy would ever think sitting around would be better than helping other people out.

…


End file.
